■  Conversations  ox  the  Parables  ;  by  the  Righ 
Hon  Lord  Stanley,  ISkiot  pp.  202,  full  cloth.  Phil- 
adelphia, J.  M.  Campbell  &  Co.,  1844.  For  sale  by 
Mr.  N.  Hickman. 

The  author  ol  this  admirable  little  volume,  which  is 
designed  for  the  use  of  children,  is  known  to  many  of 
our  readers  as  a  highly  distinguished  member  of  the 
British  House  of  Commons.  His  name,  in  company 
with  that  of  Wilberforce,  will  go  dowm  to  posteri- 
ty as  an  honourable  instance  of  the  connection  be 
tween  pious  studies  and  high  political  distinction. 

The  book  before  us  is  printed  from  the  fifth  London 


11.  I  B 


lEi^s^- 


Mtolopuxl  ^minuxj, 

PRINCETOX.  X.  J. 
The  Stephen  Collins  Donation. 

No.   Qfsr,  ^' 


r- 
be 

XL 

of 

)JV 

Ian. 
w- 

TS 

nH- 
t>ut 

1  he  DuU^ ui  M  J'- i   ■  ^^nrjTi    T7z~^^^^^^^:rJA'.re • 

seen  it  stated  -saia  t  ul  i-ord  S;rANLEY  was  the  only 
man  of  real  talent  in  ihe  House  of  Commo!:.?  except  Sir 
Robert  Peel:  and  this  worksustains  that  high  cha- 
racter. Although  designed  for  the  young,  persons  of 
matured  minds  will  read  it  with  interest  and  profit.  A 
mother  and  two  daughters  are  the  colloquists;  and  our 
memory  is  carried  back  to  the  "Conversations  on 
Chemistry,"  written,  we  believe,  by  Dr.  Black,  in 
which  the  collocutors,' Mrs.  B.  and  Caroline  and  Em- 
ily initiate  us  so  deligltfully  into  the  mysteries  of  that 
beautiful  branch  of  icience.  Every  parent  should 
give  to  each  of  his  yoU''g  children  a  copy  of  this  little 
work  of  Lord  STANL;y  asaNeV  Year  present. 


iTrontiepiece 


^y^^^- 


CONVERSATIONS 

ON  THE 

PARABLES 

OF 

THE   NEW   TESTAMENT: 

FOR 

THE  USE  OF  CHILDREN. 

BY  THE 

RT.  HON.  LORD  STANLEY. 


And  with  many  snch  parables  spake  he  the  word  unto  them,  as  they  ware  able  lo  hear  it. 
But  without  a  parable  spake  he  not  unto  them :  And  when  they  were  alone,  he  expouuded 
all  things  to  his  disciples.— Mirk  iv.  33, 34.  i-A>  A 

FROM  THE  FIFTH  LONDON  EDITION.        \^  ,  H 


■^- 


PHIL  AD  ELPHI  A.- 
JAMES  M.   CAMPBELL  &  CO. 

NEW  YORK— SAXTON  &  MILES. 
1844. 


PREFACE   DEDICATORY. 


To  Mrs.  . 

My  dear  : 

L\  dedicating  my  little  work  to  you,  I  feel  that  I 

secure  one  indulgent,  and  (you  tell  me  I  may  add) 

one  approving  reader.     I  am  aware  of  the  difRculty 

of  the  task  which  I  have  undertaken :  I  am  conscious 

how  impossible  it  is  to  unfold  the  fidl  beauties,  and 

the  hidden  meanings  of  the  Parables  of  the  New 

Testament :  and  how  doubly  hopeless  is  the  task, 

to  bring   those   beauties   and  those  meanings  into 

language  suited  for  the  comprehension  of  children. 

It  is,  therefore,   probable,  that  in   many  instances, 

while  in  my  endeavour  to  simplify,  I  have  failed  in 
5  1* 


VI  PREFACE    DEDICATORY. 

doing  justice  to  my  subject,  I  have,  at  the  same  time, 
fallen  into  the  opposite  fault,  of  being  above  the 
understanding  of  my  youthful  readers.  To  mothers, 
like  yourself,  I  must  trust  to  supply  my  deficiencies 
in  these  respects  :  but  I  could  not  resist  the  tempta- 
tion of  entering  upon  a  field,  which  seemed  to  me, 
strange  as  it  may  appear,  hitherto  untrodden;  of 
explaining,  in  a  familiar  way,  these  most  attractive 
portions  of  the  sacred  writings  ;  and  for  this  purpose, 
the  form  of  conversation  which  I  have  adopted 
struck  me  as  the  most  convenient.  It  enables  the 
writer  to  propound  and  explain  such  difficulties,  as 
he  supposes  most  likely  to  strike  the  mind  of  his 
young  readers  :  and  it  gives  him  the  opportunity  of 
relieving,  by  occasional  breaks,  the  tedium,  to  a  child, 
of  a  regular  and  continued  lecture. 

From  the  commencement  of  my  project,  you  have 
uniformly  encouraged  me  to  proceed  :  to  you  I  owe 


PREFACE    DEDICATORY.  VU 

it  that  my  task  is  at  length  completed :  you  have 
given  me  the  highest  sanction  in  your  power,  by 
assuring  me  that  my  little  work  is  one  which  you 
would  place,  with  a  hope  of  its  being  useful,  in  the 
hands  of  your  own  children ;  and  those  who  know 
you  can  alone  appreciate  the  value  of  this  assurance. 
Imperfect  as  I  feel  it  to  be,  to  you  I  present  it ;  my 
hopes  will  have  been  more  than  realized,  should 
other  parents  find  in  it  the  means  of  leading  their 
children  to  study  with  pleasure  that  holy  book, 
which,  "known  from  a  child,"  will  "make  us  wise 
unto  salvation  •,"  and  which,  "  diligently  searched," 
and  piously  meditated  upon,  will  "  surely  bring  a 
man  peace  at  the  last." 

Believe  me,  my  dear ,  yours,  with  sincere  re- 
spect, esteem,  and  friendship, 

The  Author. 

Knowsley^  May^  1828. 


CONVERSATIONS 


PARABLES 


OF 


THE  NEW  TESTAMENT. 


"Mamma,"  said  Henry  B — ,  a  lively  intelligent 
child  of  seven  years  old,  "  I  have  finished  that  pret- 
ty book  of  Bible  Stories,  which  papa  gave  me  on  my 
last  birth-day ;  but  Avhen  do  you  think  I  shall  be  old 
enough  to  read  the  real,  real  Bible,  like  you  and 
papa  ?" 

Mrs.  B.  My  dear,  you  are  too  young  at  present  to 
understand  what  you  call  the  real  Bible,  from  which, 
however,  the  stories  in  your  book  are  taken,  and  put 
into  a  form  more  suited  to  your  comprehension. 
You  know,  Mary  is  two  years  older  than  you,  and 
it  is  only  lately  that  she  has  been  allowed  to  read 
some  parts  of  that  sacred  book,  the  written  word  of 
God  himself.    In  it,  indeed,  though,  as  his  word,  it  is 

9 


10  CONVERSATIONS    ON 

the  fountain  of  all  wisdom,  and  intented  for  all  per- 
sons, there  is  much  which  is  not  only  above  your 
understanding,  but  above  mine    or  your  father's. 

Henry.  Oh,  mamma!  above  your  understanding, 
or  papa's!  you  are  joking  now. 

Mrs.  B.  Indeed,  my  love,  I  am  not ;  and  when  you 
are  old  enough  to  read  and  to  study  the  Bible,  as  it 
should  be  read  and  studied,  you  will  discover  at 
every  new  reading,  as  the  best  and  wisest  men  have 
done,  some  new  excellence,  something  which  you 
had  not  noticed  before,  and  which,  properly  consi- 
dered, may  make  you  better,  and  wiser,  and  happier. 

Henry.  Oh  !  mamma,  lioio  I  should  like  to  be  able 
to  begin  reading  it  now  !  But  do  not  you  think  that, 
though  I  may  not  read  it  myself,  you  could  pick  out 
little  bits,  and  read  them  to  us.  We  w^ould  both  be 
very  attentive,  and  always  ask  you  any  thing  that  we 
did  not  understand.     Could  not  you,  mamma  ^ 

Mrs.  B.  Yes,  my  dear,  I  think  I  can ;  for  God 
designed  his  word  to  be  taught  to  the  poor  and  the 
ignorant,  as  well  as  to  the  rich  and  the  wise ;  and 
though  you  cannot  understand  the  full  meaning  even 
of  those  parts  which  1  shall  read  to  you,  you  may, 
even  at  your  age,  derive  much  instruction  from  them ; 
for  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  has  condescended 
to  give  lessons  and  rules  of  conduct  even  for  little 
children  like  you  and  Mary.     Some  of  these,  which 


THE    PARABLES.  11 

I  mean  to  begin  reading  to  you,  are  contained  in  what 
are  called  parables  :  Mary  has  already  read  some  of 
of  them,  but  I  think  she  will  find  in  them  a  good  deal 
that  she  has  not  yet  observed  or  understood. 

"  Mamma,"  said  Mary,  "  I  should  like  to  begin  by 
asking  what  are  parables  exactly  f 

Mrs.  B.  I  am  very  glad,  my  dear  Mary,  to  find 
that  you  wish  to  know  the  meaning  of  every  thing 
exactly.  Keep  up  this  habit,  my  dear  little  girl,  and 
never  be  satisfied  with  half  understanding  any  thing 
for  want  of  taking  pains  to  understand  it  wholly. 
The  word  parable  means,  literally,  a  comparison^  and 
is  applied  in  Scripture  to  short  stories,  which  were 
frequently  used  by  the  prophets  in  the  Old  Testament, 
and  by  our  Saviour  in  the  New,  to  impress  upon  the 
minds  of  their  hearers  some  moral  lesson.  They 
used  outward  and  visible  objects  to  represent  by  com- 
parison heavenly  and  visible  ones  :  they  described 
religion,  the  soul,  and  all  that  belongs  to  it,  under 
the  figure  of  things  on  the  earth  and  belonging  to  the 
body  :  they  related  imaginary  occurrences,  and  then 
compared  them,  one  by  one,  with  the  real  circum- 
stances before  them ;  or  sometimes  left  the  hearers  to 
draw  their  own  comparisons,  when  the  story  was  told. 
Do  you  remember  a  story  that  I  told  you  a  few  days 
ago,  about  a  little  girl  and  her  nurse  ? 

"  Oh  !  yes,  mamma,"  said  Mary,  blushing,  "  and  I 


12  CO.WERSATIONS    OX 

remember  very  well  that  I  thought  the  little  girl  very 
naughty,  and  then  you  surprised  me  by  showing  me 
that  I  had  been  just  as  naughty  myself.  But  was 
that  a  parable,  mamma  ?" 

Mrs.  B.  It  partook  of  the  nature  of  a  parable,  my 
love,  and  I  was  pleased  to  see  how  readily  you  made 
the  comparison  for  yourself,  and  acknowledged  your 
own  fault,  after  condemning  the  imaginary  little  girl. 
And  what  bright  idea  is  working  in  your  head, 
Henry  } 

Henry.  I  was  thinking,  mamma,  that  my  fables  of 
birds  and  beasts  are  all  parables ;  are  they  not  ?  They 
are  imaginary  stories,  and  there  is  a  moral  put  to 
each  of  them. 

Mrs.  B.  Very  well,  Henry  ;  they  are,  to  a  certain 
degree,  parables ;  but  you  will  find  in  the  parables 
which  I  am  going  to  read  you,  no  such  absurdities 
as  birds  and  beasts  all  talking  together,  which  you 
know  could  not  have  happened.  Though  the  para- 
bles of  Jesus  Christ  contain  things  which  did  not 
happen,  there  is  nothing  in  them  which  might  not 
have  happened — nothing  ridiculous  or  absurd.  The 
stories  are  all  naturally,  and  simply,  and  beautifully 
told.  I  shall  read  them  to  you  in  the  very  words  of 
the  Bible,  as  nearly  as  I  think  you  can  understand 
them,  now  and  then  giving  you  any  explanation  which 
I  may  think  useful  to  you ;  and  remember,  both  of 


THE    PARABLES.  13 

you,  to  ask  me  any  thing  which  you  do  not  under- 
stand, at  the  time,  Avithont  any  fear  of  interrupting 
me  ;  and  you  know  that  I  always  like  to  hear  your 
remarks  as  well  as  questions  upon  any  thing  that  we 
are  reading  together. 

Henry.  Thank  you,  dear  mamma ;  and  Mary,  as 
you  are  older  than  I,  if  there  is  any  thing  which 
you  understand  and  I  do  not,  you  can  perhaps  ex- 
plain it  to  me.     May  she  not,  mamma  ? 

Mrs.  B.  Yes,  my  dear  children  ;  in  your  lessons 
and  amusements  now,  and  in  all  your  occupations 
through  life,  you  will  have  many  opportunities  of 
assisting  and  improving  each  other,  all  of  which  are 
so  many  opportunities  given  you  by  a  good  and  kind 
God,  for  making  yourselves  happier  and  better,  and 
for  pleasing  him.  I  am  sure  my  two  dear  children 
will  make  use  of  these  means  to  the  utmost  of  their 
power,  and  be  grateful  to  God  for  enabling  them  to 
be  of  service  to  others.  And  now  good  night  to  my 
dear  little  boy  and  girl ;  may  that  great  God  bless 
you  both,  and  make  you  a  blessing  to  many  others ! 
To-morrow  we  will  begin  our  Scripture  Parables. 
2 


14  CONVERSATIONS  ON 


FIRST  DAY. 


PARABLE    OF    THE    SOWER. 


Matt.  xiii.  3.  Mark  iv.  3.  Luke  viii.  5. 

Mrs.  B.  I  told  you  yesterday,  my  loves,  that  you 
would  find  nothing  marvellous  or  absurd  in  the  para- 
bles of  Jesus  Christ :  the  one  which  1  have  chosen 
to  begin  with  will,  perhaps,  seem  to  you  so  common 
as  hardly  to  be  what  you  would  call  a  story.  I  dare 
say  you  have  yourselves  seen  all  the  circumstances 
happen,  without  paying  much  attention  'to  them  in 
the  point  of  view  in  which  Jesus  used  them.  "  A 
sower,"  said  he,  "  went  forth  to  sow"  corn  in  his 
fields.  "  And  when  he  sowed,  some  seeds  fell  by 
the  way-side,  and"  as  soon  as  he  had  let  them  fall, 
"  the  fowls  came  and  devoured  them  up.  Some  fell 
upon  stony  places,  where  they  had  not  much  earth, 
and  forthwith  sprang  up,  because  they  had  no  deep- 
ness of  earth ;  and  when  the  sun  was  up,  they  were 
scorched  ;  and  because  they  had  no  root  they  wither- 
ed away.     And  some  fell  among  thorns,  and  the 


THE  PARABLES.  15 

thorns  sprung  up"  with  them,  and  growing  faster, 
"  choked  them ;"  that  is,  took  from  them  the  sun, 
and  the  nourishment  of  the  earth,  and  dew,  and  rain, 
and  they  produced  no  fruit.  "  But  other  fell  into 
good  ground,"  properly  prepared,  and  at  the  time  of 
the  harvest,  this  part  had  "  brought  forth  fruit,  some 
an  hundred  fold,  some  sixty-fold,  some  thirty-fold  ;" 
that  is,  a  hundred,  or  sixty,  or  thirty  grains  of  corn 
for  every  one  that  was  sown. 

Mary.  Well,  mamma,  but  is  this  all  the  parable  r 
I  thought  you  said  there  was  a  moral  to  all  of  them, 
as  there  is  in  the  fable  book ;  but  I  see  no  moral  here. 

Mrs.  B.  No  more  did  the  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ, 
for  they  came  to  him,  after  he  had  finished,  and  de- 
sired him  to  explain  it.  They  were  sure  that  he 
meant  to  give  them  some  instruction,  but  what  it  was 
they  could  not  tell.  He  was  so  kind  as  to  explain  it 
to  them  himself;  and  we  will  follow  the  parable  with 
his  own  explanation,  step  by  step.  You  will  re- 
member what  I  told  you,  that  in  the  parables,  out- 
ward and  visible  objects  were  often  used  to  repre- 
sent heavenly  and  invisible  ones.  In  this  instance, 
the  hearts  of  men  of  all  kinds,  good  and  bad,  are  re- 
presented by  the  different  parts  of  the  field.  We  will 
see  what  sorts  of  men,  by  and  by.  "  The  seed  is  the 
word  of  God."  It  is  religion  itself — every  time  you 
learn  to  know  more  of  God,  every  fresh  command- 


16  CONVERSATIOXS    OX 

ment  of  his  whicli  you  hear,  and  which  you  will 
hereafter  read  in  the  Bible,  his  written  word,  every 
good  feeling,  every  wish  to  be  good,  every  thing 
which  you  learn  of  your  duty  to  God  and  to  your 
fellow-creatures,  is  so  much  "seed"  sown  in  the 
"'  fields"  of  your  "  hearts."  And  does  not  this  begin 
to  show  you  what  is  the  nature  of  a  parable  ?  Do 
you  understand  me,  Mary  ? 

Mary.  I  think  I  do  a  little,  mamma,  but  I  am  not 
very  sure.  You  say  that  every  thing  good  that  we 
learn  is  represented  by  the  seed,  and  our  hearts  by 
the  field.     Then  are  you  the  farmer,  mamma  ? 

Mrs.  B.  I  see,  my  dear  Mary,  that  you  do  under- 
stand the  parable  as  far  as  we  have  gone ;  and  inas- 
much as  I  instruct  you  in  your  duty  to  God  and  to 
man,  I  do  indeed  the  business  of  the  farmer.  But 
tell  me,  whose  seed  it  is  that  is  sown  ?  Who  is  it 
that  in  his  word  has  taught  me  my  duty  to  you,  gives 
me  health  and  strength  to  attend  to  it,  and  gives  to 
you  not  only  the  means  of  instruction,  but  your  life, 
your  senses,  your  understanding,  by  which  you  can 
receive  it  ? 

Henry.   Oh !  you  mean  the  good  God,  mamma. 

Mrs.  B.  Yes,  my  love,  I  do  mean  that  good  and 
great  God,  who  has  given  you  earthly  parents  to  be 
the  instruments  and  representatives  of  himself,  your 
heavenly  Father ;  a  parent  who  loves  you  and  cares 


THE  PARABLES.  17 

for  you  even  more  tenderly  than  I  do,  and  not  for  you 
only,  but  for  all  his  children  here  on  earth.  He  it  is 
who  is  the  good  Farmer,  from  whom  all  the  "  seed" 
comes,  and  who  plants  it  in  the  hearts  of  all  of  us, 
whether  we  choose  that  it  should  grow  there  or  not. 
You  will  now,  I  think,  be  able  to  make  out,  with  a 
little  help,  what  is  meant  by  the  different  soils  in  the 
parable.  You  know  I  told  you  the  different  parts  of 
the  field, — "  way-side,"  the  "  stony  ground,"  the 
"  thorny  ground,"  and  the  "  good  ground"  repre- 
sented men  of  different  characters.  Who  do  you 
think  are  those  by  the  way-side  ? 

Mary.  Who,  mamma  > 

Mrs.  B.  I  want  you  to  think  a  little.  If  you  were 
sowing  in  your  garden,  why  would  you  choose  the 
mould  which  is  well  dug,  rather  than  the  gravel 
walk  ? 

Mary.  Because  nothing  would  grow  on  the  walk ; 
the  seed  would  not  go  in,  it  is  so  hard,  and  it  would 
lie  on  the  top  till  the  birds  took  it. 

Mrs.  B.  Well,  my  love,  and  hoAvever  melancholy 
it  sounds,  it  is  yet  true,  that  there  are  some  hearts 
which  perhaps  have  not  been  properly  dug.)  that  is, 
properly  educated,  and  which  are  so  hard  that  they 
hear  the  commands  of  God,  without  wishing  to  obey 
them ;  and  receive  his  mercies  and  goodness,  with- 
out feeling  love  and  reverence  for  his  name. 
2* 


18 


CO\VERSATIO-\S  ON 


Henry.    Oh,  mamma !  but  what  wicked  people  !  I 
hope  Mary  and  I  shall  never  be  like  them. 

Mrs.  B.  No,  my  love :  indeed  I  hope  and  pray 
that  you  may  not !  that  that  great  and  good  Being, 
of  whom  the  sower  in  the  parable  is  the  type  or  re- 
presentative, may  keep  your  hearts  soft  and  open  to 
receive  the  seed  which  he  throws  into  them  :  and 
may  you,  on  your  parts,  pray  to  that  God  who  has 
commanded  us  all  to  "  ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  us,"* 
that  he  will  not  suffer  the  devil,  the  great  enemy  of 
our  souls,  who  is  represented  by  the  birds  in  the 
parable,  to  take  the  good  seed  out  of  your  hearts. 
He  is  continually  endeavouring  to  do  so,  and  will  do 
so,  if  you  allow  it  to  lie  upon  the  surface,  and  not  to 
sink  into  the  ground.  If  you,  on  your  parts,  are 
careless  and  inattentive,  God  may  withdraw  his 
grace  from  you.  You  will  continually  become  less 
able  to  feel  his  mercies  and  his  love ;  and  the  seed 
which  was  sown,  being  upon  a  hard  and  unprepared 
soil,  will  soon  be  wholly  lost.  But  God  grant,  my 
dear  children,  that  this  may  never  be  our  case  !  May 
we  be  neither  the  ground  by  the  way-side,  nor  that 
among  the  stones ! — Henry,  do  you  remember  what 
became  of  the  seed  sown  there  ? 

Henry.   Yes,  mamma,  I  think  I  do.     It  grew  up, 
but  the  sun  burnt  it,  and  it  died. 

*  Matt.  vii.  7. 


THE   PARABLES. 


19 


Mrs.  B.  Quite  right,  Henry  ;  and  now  hear  how 
Jesus  himself  explains  this  part  of  his  parable.  '•  He 
that  received  the  seed  in  stony  places,  the  same  is  he 
that  heareth  the  Word,  and  anon  with  joy  receiveth 
it;  yet  hath  he  not  root  in  himself,  but  dureth  for  a 
while  ;  for  when  tribulation  and  persecution  ariseth 
because  of  the  Word,  by  and  by  he  is  offended." 
Do  you  understand  this  explanation  ? 

Mary.  I  think  so,  mamma ;  a  person  having  root 
in  himself,  means  having  steadiness,  does  it  not  ? 

Mrs.  B.  Certainly,  my  dear,  and  without  this  virtue 
of  steadiness^  without  a  firm  root  of  love  for  God,  of 
gratitude  for  his  mercies,  and  of  confidence  in  his 
protection  and  promises,  the  best  and  warmest  reso- 
lutions are  of  no  avail.  The  seed,  indeed,  springs  up, 
when  the  sun  becomes  hot,  that  is,  when  persecution 
arises  on  account  of  religion,  there  is  nothing  to  sup- 
port its  growth,  and  it  withers  away. 

Henry.  But,  mamma,  wdiy  is  the  sun  used  to  sig- 
nify persecution .?     Is  not  the  sun  good  for  corn  ? 

Mrs.  B.  Yes,  my  dear,  a  moderate  degree  of  heat 
is  not  only  good  for  it,  but  necessary  to  its  growth; 
it  draws  up  the  moisture  of  the  earth  below  and 
feeds  the  root ;  and  so  are  trials  and  persecutions 
beneficial  to  the  faith  of  sincere  and  well-grounded 
Christians;  they  exercise  their  virtue  and  nourish 
their  religion,  as  the  sun  does  the  corn ;  but  those 


20  COXVERSATIOXS  ON 

M'ho  have  no  foundation,  no  depth  of  root,  wither 
away  under  that  which  might  otherwise  have  been 
their  benefit. 

Mary.  But,  mamma,  there  are  no  such  things  as 
persecutions  now,  so  that  there  can  be  no  such  peo- 
ple as  these  any  longer. 

Mrs.  B.  We  have  indeed  reason,  my  love,  to  thank 
God  that  the  days  of  actual  persecution,  the  days 
when  the  acknowledgement  of  a  Saviour's  mercy  and 
atonement  was  punished  by  bodily  sufferings  and 
death,  are  long  since  at  an  end;  that  loe  live  in  an 
age  and  in  a  country,  in  which  a  belief  in  the  re- 
denrption  wrought  for  us  by  Christ  forms  part  of  the 
established  religion  of  the  land.  But  you  must  not 
imagine  on  that  account,  that  the  days  of  "  tribulation 
because  of  the  word"  are  at  an  end,  or  that  the  sin- 
cere Christian  will  not  have  to  undergo  many  trials, 
whether  he  "hath  root  in  himself"  or  not.  You, 
my  dear  Henry,  will,  before  very  long,  go  to  school, 
where,  as  in  the  world  afterwards,  you  will  meet  with 
persons  of  all  characters;  with  some  who  have  been 
so  unhappy  as  never  to  have  been  taught  to  reverence 
religion  themselves,  and  who  therefore  make  a  mock 
of  it  in  others ;  with  many  who,  from  different  mo- 
tives, will  ridicule  and  despise  your  strict  adherence 
to  your  principles  and  your  religion.  And  believe 
me,  my  dear  little  boy,  strange  as  it  may  appear  to 


THE  PARABLES.  21 

you,  ridicule  or  contempt  are  almost  as  difficult  to 
meet  as  the  more  open  persecutions  of  fire  and  sword ; 
unless  you  have  root  in  yourself,  unless  your  belief 
in,  and  love  of  God  are  thoroughly  rooted  in  you, 
you  will,  to  use  the  Scripture  phrase,  "  be  offended ;" 
or,  as  I  have  been  told  is  the  more  literal  translation, 
be  "  made  to  stumble,"  by  the  trifling,  but  constantly 
repeated  persecutions  of  those  who  are  really  your 
inferiors  in  religious  knowledge.  My  dear  Mary  has 
not,  in  this  respect,  so  difficult  a  task  to  perform ;  but 
she  may  have  opportunities  of  showing  openly  that 
she  is  not  to  be  turned  aside  from  her  duty  by  'perse- 
cution^ in  whatever  shape ;  that  she  is  not  ashamed 
of  her  Saviour,  who  has  declared  that  "whosoever 
shall  be  ashamed  of  me  and  of  my  words,  of  him 
shall  the  Son  of  man  be  ashamed  when  he  shall 
come  in  his  own  glory,  and  in  his  Father's,  and  of  the 
holy  angels."*  But  to  whatever  trials  God  may  see 
fit  to  put  each  of  you,  he  will  not  suffer  the  tempta- 
tion to  be  more  than  you  are  able  to  bear,  if  you 
sincerely  pray  to  him  for  assistance,  and  rely  entirely 
upon  him,  who  is  able  to  grant  abundantly  more  than 
we  can  desire  or  deserve.  He  will  soften  "  the  stony 
ground,"  and  give  moisture  sufficient  to  support  the 
strongest  heat,  to  those  who  sincerely  apply  to  him 
for  aid.     But  we  have  still  another  case  to  consider, 

*  Luke  ix.  26. 


22  CONVERSATIONS    ON 

that  of  the  seed  which  "  fell  among  thorns,"  and  so 
was  choked,  and  brought  forth  no  fruit.  Let  me  hear 
your  idea  of  this,  Mary. 

Mary.  I  do  not  know,  mamma,  but  it  seems  to  me 
that  the  thorns  might  represent  bad  companions,  who 
lead  people  into  doing  what  is  wrong,  and  hinder 
them  from  doing  what  they  know  to  be  right. 

Mrs.  B.  Your  interpretation  is  ingenious  enough, 
but  it  is  giving  a  much  more  limited  explanation  of 
the  "  thorns"  than  was  intended  by  the  divine  Author 
of  the  parable.  Hear  his  interpretation  :  "  They 
which  fell  among  the  thorns  are  they  which,  when 
they  have  heard,  go  forth,  and  are  choked  with  cares, 
and  riches,  and  pleasures  of  this  life,  and  bring  no 
fruit  to  perfection."  You  see,  my  love,  that  this  in- 
cludes not  only  those  who  are  led  away  by  bad  com- 
panions, (though  tliey  are  indeed  thorns  which  may 
well  choke  and  render  unfruitful  the  best  seed,)  but 
all  who,  from  an  over  anxiety  about  the  things  of 
this  world,  are  led  to  neglect  the  service  of  their 
Maker,  and  the  care  of  their  own  souls.  Each  sta- 
tion in  life  has  its  respective  "  thorns;"  rich  and  poor, 
old  and  young,  have  their  various  objects  of  pursuit, 
any  of  which,  when  allowed  to  engross  the  chief 
part  of  their  attention,  "choke  the  word."  Amuse- 
ments, intended  by  a  kind  Providence  to  refresh  the 
mind  and  body,  may  be  made  the  business  of  life. 


THE  PARABLES.  23 

Industry,  his  appointed  means  whereby  men  must 
provide  for  the  temporal  necessities  of  themselves 
and  their  families,  may  be  turned  into  an  over-anxiety 
for  the  perishable  goods  of  this  life,  and  an  indiffer- 
ence towards  the  better  treasures  of  the  world  to 
come.  Riches,  the  means  given  us  by  God  to  spread 
around  us  comfort  and  happiness,  and  to  promote  the 
welfare  of  our  own  souls,  by  being  the  faithful  stew- 
ards of  his  bounty,  may  be  idly  and  unprofitably 
wasted;  or  may,  with  persons  of  other  characters, 
be  hoarded  up,  and  excite  the  desire  of  accumulating 
more,  without  considering  to  what  end  they  were 
given.  All  these,  my  loves,  in  short,  all  that  are 
summed  up  in  the  three  words  of  the  Bible,  "  the 
cares^  and  riches^  and  pleasures,''''  of  this  world ;  all 
these  are  given,  in  such  proportion  as  almighty  wis- 
dom has  seen  fit,  for  our  improvement  and  happiness, 
and  upon  the  use  or  abuse  which  we  make  of  them 
in  our  different  stations  will  depend  our  degree  of 
happiness  in  a  far  better  world.*  Only  we  must  take 
care  that  we  enjoy  the  good,  and  bear  the  evil,  which 
God  sends  us,  without  allowing  either  the  one  or  the 
other  to  choke  in  our  hearts  the  good  seed  of  his 
word,  lest  it  become  unfruitful.  And  now,  Mary,  do 
you  see  how  much  wider  range  this  explanation  gives 

*  Matthew  xvi.  27. 


24  COXVERSATIONS    ON 

to  the  "  thorns"  than  you  were  disposed  to  allow 
them  ? 

Mary.  Yes,  mamma,  and  I  think  now  I  quite  un- 
derstand the  %vhole  of  the  parable.  The  seed  on 
good  ground  is  of  course  good  people,  who,  by  God's 
grace,  grow  better  and  better  as  they  grow  up,  till 
the  end  of  their  lives 

Mrs.  B.  Yes,  my  dear,  but  you  will  observe  that 
there  is  a  difference  even  among  those  of  the  fourth 
class.  "  Upon  them,"  says  an  excellent  man  as  well 
as  writer  of  the  present  day,  "  the  word  is  not  lost 
or  destroyed  without  taking  root ;  neither  is  it  over- 
borne by  the  opposition  which  it  must  encounter  • 
neither  is  it  choked  among  the  concerns,  and  interests, 
and  pleasures  of  the  present  state ;  but  it  grows 
among  unfriendly  plants,  and  flourishes  in  spite  of 
ungenial  climate ;  and  is  distinguished  by  the  fruits 
of  humility,  piety,  holiness,  and  charity,  in  which  it 
abounds.  Yet  among  those  who  alike  ^  receive,  and 
understand,  and  keep  the  word,'  there  is  not  a  uni- 
form proficiency.  All  do  not  in  an  equal  degree 
obtain  the  mastery  over  their  natural  corruptions. 
All  do  not  arrive  at  an  equal  height  in  Christian 
virtue.  All  do  not  labour  equally  in  the  service  of 
the  master  to  whom  they  have  attached  themselves. 
All  produce  fruit,  but  some  thirty,  some  sixty,  and 


THE    PARABLES. 


25 


some  an  hundred-fold."*  In  the  words  in  Avhich 
St.  Luke  gives  the  explanation  of  this  part  of  the 
parable,  ''  they  on  the  good  ground  are  they  which, 
in  an  honest  and  good  heart,  having  heard  the  word, 
keep  it,  and  bring  forth  fruit  with  patience." 

Henry,  why  does  it  say  "  with pa/ie7ice,"  mamma? 

Mrs.  B.  What  would  you  say,  Henry,  to  a  farmer 
who  put  the  seed  into  the  ground  one  day,  and  ex- 
pected to  reap  the  crop  the  next  ? 

Henry.  I  should  say  that  he  was  very  silly,  mamma ; 
because  it  has  got  to  grow  up  at  first  green  like  grass, 
and  then  it  grows  higher  and  higher,  and  then  the 
ear  comes,  and  then  it  turns  yellow,  and  at  last  it  is 
fit  to  be  cut  down. 

Mrs.  B.  Well,  Henry,  and  the  case  is  much  the 
same  with  the  cultivation  of  the  human  heart.  It  is 
a  work  of  time  and  of  patience.  The  heart  must  be 
prepared  to  know  and  love  God,  the  seed  of  his  word 
must  be  sown,  it  must  take  deep  root,  it  must  slowly 
"grow  with  bur  growth,  and  strengthen  with  our 
strength  ;"  care  must  be  taken  to  root  out  all  the  evil 
weeds  which  might  choke  it ;  it  must  be  ripened  by 
difficulties  and  trials,  probably  by  affliction  also; 
and  the  grace  of  God  constantly  and  devoutly  prayed 
for,  must  ever  assist  his  own  work,  and  aid  the  fruit 

*  Summer's  Evidences  of  Christianity,  p.  179. 

3 


26  CONVERSATIONS    OX 

to  come  to  perfection.  And  then,  at  the  great  day 
of  harvest,  when  it  shall  be  gathered  together,  good 
and  bad,  may  he,  my  dear  children,  mercifully  grant, 
that  we  may  be  of  the  number  of  those  whom  he 
"  shall  gather  as  ii^heat  into  his  garner;"*  there  to  en- 
joy for  ever  and  ever  a  happiness,  though  far  exceeding 
all  human  understanding,  yet  equitably  proportioned 
to  the  fruit  which  we  have  produced  from  his  seed, 
in  this  world  of  trial.  And  let  us  never  forget  that 
according  to  the  seed  sown,  according  to  the  oppor- 
tunities given  to  us  of  improvement,  will  God  most 
justly  expect  that  the  future  crop  shall  be :  that 
•'  unto  whomsoever  much  is  given,  of  him  shall  be 
much  required."!  But  upon  this  particular  subject 
we  will  take  another  parable  to-morrow.  Meantime, 
I  hope  you  have  uuderstood,  and  will  remember, 
what  we  have  gone  through  to-day. 

Mary.  Yes,  mamma,  thank  you,  I  think  I  quite 
understand  it  now ;  and  1  am  sure  I  never  thought, 
when  you  first  read  the  parable,  that  there  could  be 
so  much  hidden  in  it. 

Henry.  Nor  I,  mamma ;  I  shall  never  see  them 
sowing  in  the  fields  now  without  thinking  of  this 
parable. 

Mrs.  B.   You  will  do  well,  my  dear,  on  all  occa- 

*  Luke  iii.  17.  f  Luke  xii.  48. 


THE    PARABLES.  27 

sions,  to  let  your  thoughts  turn  habitually  to  the 
goodness  and  mercy  of  God,  and  to  his  command- 
ments ;  and  to  a  mind  properly  disposed,  there  is 
nothing  which  may  not  suggest  the  idea  of  him,  who 
is  at  all  times  your  surest  guide,  and  friend,  and  pro- 
tector. And  now  we  will  close  our  reading  for  to- 
day. To-morrow,  if  I  have  reason  to  be  satisfied 
with  you,  we  will  begin  at  the  same  hour. 


28  CONVERSATIONS  ON 


SECOND  DAY. 


PARABLE    OF    THE    TALENTS. 


Matthew  xxv.  14.  Luke  xix.  12. 

Mrs.  B.  You  remember,  my  dears,  that  in  the 
parable  M'hich  we  read  yesterday,  we  settled  that  the 
seed  which  fell  on  good  ground,  and  brought  forth 
fruit,  some  thirty,  some  sixty,  and  some  a  hundred- 
fold, was  designed  to  represent  those  good  persons, 
who,  to  use  the  words  of  the  Bible,  "  in  an  honest 
and  good  heart,  having  heard  the  word,  keep  it,  and 
bring  forth  fruit  with  patience,"*  but  who  do  not 
all  make  an  equal  proficiency  :  to  carry  on  the  same 
comparison,  upon  which  part  of  his  field  do  you 
suppose  the  farmer  would  look  with  the  greatest 
pleasure  and  satisfaction  ? 

Henry.  On  the  good  ground,  of  course. 

Mrs.  B.  And  of  the  good  ground,  upon  that 
which  produced  thirty,  or  sixty,  or  a  hundred-fold  ? 

*  Luke  viii.  15. 


THE  PARABLES. 


29 


Henry.   Upon  that  which  produced  a  hundred. 

Mrs.  B.  Yes,  my  love  ;  and  so  you  may  be  sure 
will  the  heavenly  Sower  of  the  Word  look  with  love 
and  mercy  upon  all  who  have  served  him  faith- 
fully in  this  life ;  but  with  more  approbation,  the 
more  we  serve  him,  and  strive  to  '•  bring  forth  the 
fruit'"  of  his  word  in  this  life.  Nay,  we  are  even 
assured  that  we  have  it  in  our  power  to  add,  by  our 
conduct  here,  to  the  happiness  even  of  the  blessed 
angels  in  heaven. 

Henry.  Oh  !  mamma  ;  you  do  not  mean  that  the 
angels  care  about  what  is  done  by  such  a  little  boy 
as  I  am ! 

Mrs.  B.  My  love,  our  knowledge,  while  we  are 
in  this  life,  of  what  passes  in  heaven,  of  the  nature 
and  feelings  of  its  blessed  inhabitants,  must  be  very 
imperfect :  but  of  this  we  are  assured  by  Jesus  Christ 
himself,  that  "  there  is  joy  in  heaven  over  one  sinner 
that  repenteth,  more  than  over  ninety-and-nine  just 
persons,  which  need  no  repentance."*  And  we  can- 
not but  believe  that  beings,  infinitely  good  and  holy, 
must  delight  in  seeing  others  making  advances,  how- 
ever slowly,  towards  the  same  state  of  perfection 
and  happiness.  But  this  has  taken  us  a  little  away 
from  the  subject  of  our  parable,  which,  as  you  re- 

*  Luke  XV.  7. 


30  CONVERSATIOXS    ON 

member,  was  to  illustrate  our  different  degrees  of 
goodness ;  and  which  will  also  show  us  what  will  be 
the  dealings  of  a  just  and  merciful  God  with  regard 
to  them.  Bear  this  in  mind,  and  I  think  you  will 
understand,  without  much  explanation,  the  parable 
of  the  nobleman  and  his  servants.  St.  Matthew  and 
St.  Luke  both  relate  it,  with  some  trifling  differences. 
I  mean  to  take  the  words  sometimes  from  one,  and 
sometimes  from  the  other. 

"  A  certain  nobleman  went  into  a  far  country  to 
receive  for  himself  a  kingdom,"  (or  to  take  possession 
of  an  estate  which  belonged  to  him,)  "  and  to  return. 
And  he  called  his  own  servants,  and  delivered  unto 
them  his  goods,  and  said  unto  them.  Occupy"  (or 
employ  to  the  best  advantage)  "  till  1  come.  And 
to  one  he  gave  five  talents,  to  another  two,  and  to 
another  one,  to  every  man  according  to  his  several 
ability;  and  straightway  took  his  journey." 

Mary.  Mamma,  I  beg  your  pardon  for  interrupt- 
ing you  ;  but  is  not  a  talent  a  sum  of  money } 

Mrs.  B.  Yes,  my  love ;  you  are  quite  right  to 
ask  the  question.  A  talent  was  a  sum  of  money,  or 
rather  a  quantity  of  gold  or  silver,  amounting  to  a 
certain  weight.  St.  Luke  uses,  instead  of  talent,  the 
word  "  pound ;"  but  it  is  sufficient  to  know,  that  a 
sum  of  money,  no  matter  how  large  or  small,  is 
intended. 


THE  PARABLES.  31 

"Then,"  continues  St.  Matthew,  "he  that  had  re- 
ceived the  five  talents,  went  and  traded  with  the  same, 
and  made  them  other  five  talents.  And  likewise,  he 
that  had  received  two,  he  also  gained  other  two.  But  he 
that  had  received  one,  went  and  digged  in  the  earth, 
and  hid  his  lord's  money.  After  a  long  time,  the  lord 
of  those  servants  cometh,  and  commandeth  them  to 
be  called  unto  him,  that  he  might  know  how  much 
every  man  had  gained  by  trading.  And  so  he  that 
had  received  five  talents,  came  and  brought  other 
five  talents,  saying.  Lord,  thou  deliveredst  mito  me 
five  talents,  behold  I  have  gained  beside  them  five 
talents  more.  His  lord  said  unto  him.  Well  done, 
thou  good  and  faithful  servant;  thou  hast  been  faith- 
ful over  a  few  things,  I  will  make  thee  ruler  over 
many  things ;  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  lord. 
He  also  that  had  received  two  talents,  came  and  said? 
Lord,  thou  deliveredst  unto  me  two  talents,  behold,  1 
have  gained  two  other  talents  beside  them.  His 
lord  said  unto  him,  Well  done,  good  and  faithful 
servant ;  thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few  things,  I 
will  make  thee  ruler  over  many  things ;  enter  thou 
into  the  joy  of  thy  lord.  Then  he  which  had  re- 
ceived the  one  talent,  came  and  said.  Lord,  I  knew 
thee,  that  thou  art  an  hard  man,  reaping  where  thou 
hast  not  sown,  and  gathering  where  thou  hast  not 
strewed  :  and  I  was  afraid,  and  went  and  hid  thy  ta- 


32  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

lent  in  the  earth  :  lo !  there  thou  hast  that  is  thine. 
His  lord  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Out  of  thine 
own  mouth  will  I  judge  thee,  thou  wicked  and  sloth- 
ful servant.  Thou  knewest  that  I  reap  where  1  sowed 
not,  and  gather  where  I  have  not  strewed,  wherefore 
then  gavest  not  thou  my  money  into  the  bank, 
that  at  my  coming  I  might  have  received  my  own 
with  usury.?  (or  interest  for  money  lent.)  Take, 
therefore,  the  talent  from  him,  and  give  it  unto  him 
that  hath  ten  talents.  For  unto  every  one  that  hath 
shall  be  given,  and  he  shall  have  abundance  :  but 
from  him  that  hath  not,  shall  be  taken  away  even 
that  which  he  hath." 

Henry.  But,  surely,  mamma,  that  Avas  not  quite 
fair ;  was  it  ?  for  the  man  who  had  already  ten  ta- 
lents could  not  want  any  more,  and  the  other  did. 

Mrs.  B.  We  will  go  over  the  parable  line  by  line, 
and  see  what  moral  we  can  draw  from  it ;  and  I  think 
we  shall  show  you,  Henry,  before  we  have  done,  that 
you  have  been  rather  hasty  in  judging,  and  therefore 
have  judged  wrong.  And  now,  to  begin  our  exa- 
mination, who  is  meant,  think  you,  Henry,  by  the 
nobleman  and  his  servants .?  or  can  you  tell  me? 
Mary } 

Mary.  Yes,  mamma,  [  think  I  can ;  1  think  I  un- 
derstand it  all  quite  well. 

Mrs.  B.  All  quite  well !  that  is  saying  a  good  deal. 


THE  PARABLES. 


33 


Mary.  I  mean,  mamma,  that  I  thought  while  you 
were  reading,  I  could  make  out  what  each  part  meant, 
and  how  it  all  applied. 

Mrs.  B.  Well,  my  dear,  I  am  glad  to  hear  that 
you  have  been  able  to  follow  the  general  meaning 
so  far  :  but  depend  upon  it,  you  will  find  in  this,  as 
in  all  the  other  parables,  that  though  the  general  line 
of  comparison  may  be  plain  and  simple  enough,  tlie 
more  we  enlarge  upon,  and  consider  each  particular 
point,  the  more  hidden  meaning  we  shall  discover, 
and  the  more  good  we  may  do  to  our  own  minds ; 
and  the  case  is,  perhaps,  stronger  in  no  one  parable 
than  in  this.  And  now  for  your  explanation, 
jMary. 

Mary.  I  think,  mamma,  that  the  nobleman  means 
God ;  that  we  are  his  servants,  and  that  when  he  re- 
turns, that  is,  at  the  last  day,  he  will  call  us  to  ac- 
count for  the  good  or  the  evil  we  have  done,  and 
reward  or  punish  us  accordingly. 

Mrs.  B.  Well,  my  love,  you  are  quite  right  in 
your  general  view ;  but  we  may,  1  think,  go  a  little 
further  into  details  than  you  have  done,  before  we 
quit  the  parable.  How,  for  instance,  do  you  inter- 
pret the  sum  of  money  intrusted  to  us  ? 

Mary.  Is  it  not  the  means  we  have  of  doing  good  ? 

Mrs.  B.  To  others,  do  you  mean;  or  to  our- 
selves also  ? 


34  CO.WERSATIOxNS  ON 

Mary.  I  meant  to  others,  mamma ;  but  1  suppose 
it  may  mean  both. 

Mrs.  B.  And  if  it  does,  which  indeed  it  may  be 
said  to  do,  what  a  boundless  fiekl  does  it  open  to 
us.  What,  indeed,  is  there,  which  may  not,  if  im- 
proved, be  made  the  means  of  good  to  ourselves  or 
others  ?  Not  our  worldly  advantages  only,  not  only 
our  good  dispositions,  not  only  our  pious  and  virtu- 
ous feelings,  but  our  joys,  our  sorrows,  our  trials, 
even  our  evil  inclinations,  (which  are  trials,)  all  our 
whole  state  of  being,  and  every  circumstance  of  our 
lives,  may  be  made  "  the  means  of  good  to  ourselves 
or  others."  All  these  are,  in  fact,  part  of  the  talents, 
the  stock  in  trade,  which  our  heavenly  Master  has 
put  into  our  hands,  for  the  employment  of  which  he 
will  call  us  to  account  when  he  comes  to  make  his 
reckoning. 

Mary.  Oh !  but,  mamma,  what  a  terrible  idea ! 
How  could  we  ever  give  such  an  account ! 

Mrs.  B.  The  idea  is  not  a  terrible  one  to  a  Chris- 
tian, my  love,  who  considers  that  he  serves  a  merci- 
ful, though  a  just  Master;  one  w^ho  knows  the 
infirmities  of  his  creatures,  and  has  accepted,  as  an 
atonement  for  our  sins  and  imperfections,  the  perfect 
sacrifice  of  his  own  Son  Jesus  Christ;  but  it  is  an 
awful  idea,  even  to  the  best  of  Christians :  and  one 
M'hich  may  well  lead  us  to  consider  seriously  the 


THE  PARABLES.  35 

responsibility  under  which  we  stand,  for  our  use  of 
things  seemingly  indifferent.  But  though  the  com- 
parison ^vould  equally  hold  good  throughout,  even 
were  it  pushed  to  its  farthest  limit,  we  will  not  go 
so  far :  we  will  consider  the  "  talents"  committed  to 
us,  to  mean  our  good  dispositions,  and  the  advan- 
tages of  our  respective  stations  in  life;  in  other 
words,  our  capacities  for  serving  God  and  men. 
And  now,  my  loves,  observe,  in  the  first  place,  the 
unequal  distribution  of  these  advantages.  "  Unto 
one  he  gave  five  talents,  to  another  two,  to  another 
one;  and  to  every  man  according  to  his  several 
ability."  And  our  Master  has  adopted  the  same  line 
of  proceeding  in  his  government  of  the  world :  not 
all  are  rich,  not  all  prosperous,  not  all  endowed  with 
distinguished  abilities :  some  are  born  to  poverty 
and  suffering,  some  to  sickness  and  infirmity  of 
body,  some  to  weakness  of  intellect.  Even  you  may 
have  seen  different  children  wdth  different  disposi- 
tions, more  or  less  good-tempered,  liberal,  indus- 
trious ;  one  learning  quickly,  and  soon  perhaps  for- 
getting ;  another  slow,  but  retaining  in  the  memory 
what  he  has  learnt.  "  But  all  these,"  as  the  Apostle 
St.  Paul  says,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians, 
"  worketh  that  one  and  the  self-same  Spirit,  dividing 
to  every  man  severally  as  he  w^ill  :"*  or,  in  the  words 

*  1  Cor.  xii.  11. 


36  CO-N^VERSATIONS  ON 

of  the  parable,  "  to  eveiy  man  according  to  his  seve- 
ral ability  ;"  according-,  that  is,  in  our  case,  as  he  sees 
best  for  us,  and  for  his  own  eternal  purposes.  He 
places  us  each  in  our  respective  stations,  allots  to  us 
our  respective  duties,  and  gives  us  our  respective 
powers,  and  capacities  of  body  and  of  mind. 

Henry.  How  wonderful,  mamma  !  One  gets  quite 
puzzled  in  thinking  how  God  can  know  and  arrange 
for  all  the  world. 

Mrs.  B.  Wonderful,  indeed,  my  dear  Henry,  is  he 
in  all  his  ways,  and  far  above  our  comprehension  is 
that  almighty  and  all-knowing  mind  which  pro- 
vides for  the  wants  of  every  single  creature,  not  only 
in  this  world,  but  perhaps  in  hundreds  and  thousands 
of  other  worlds  beyond  our  knowledge.  But  let  us 
return  to  the  subject  which  we  are  more  immediately 
considering  just  now.  For  what  purpose  did  the 
nobleman  give  his  servants  these  different  sums  of 
money  ?  Did  he  give  them,  or  lend  them,  or  entrust 
them  to  their  keeping  ? 

Mary.  He  entrusted  them,  mamma,  and  said  that 
they  must  employ  them  to  the  best  advantage,  till  he 
came  back. 

Mrs.  B.  Very  well  remembered,  Mary  ;  and  now 
what  do  you  understand  by  this  ? 

Mary.  I  understand,  mamma,  that  God  has  en 
trusted  to  us  good  dispositions,  and  that  we  are  to 


THE  PARABLES.  37 

make  the  most  of  them.,  and  to  keep  them  always 
exercised. 

Mrs.  B.  Very  well,  indeed ;  it  is  a  pleasure  to  me 
to  teach,  when  I  find  you  attentive  and  endeavouring 
to  profit  by  my  instructions.  And  if  we  do  so  exer- 
cise our  good  dispositions,  and  cultivate  our  capaci- 
ties for  good,  we  are  assured  by  the  parable  that  the 
dispositions  and  capacities  will  themselves  be  per- 
petually increased.  Besides  our  first  five,  we  shall 
have  gained  five  other  talents.  But  observe,  that  we 
are  not  only  to  "  trade,"  or  endeavour  to  increase 
our  store  of  good  till  we  have  gained  a  certain  point, 
but  we  are  to  "occupy  till  our  Master  cometh." 
What  does  this  mean,  Henry  "i 

Henry.  Does  it  not  mean,  mamma,  that  we  are 
always  to  try  to  do  better  and  better  till  our  death  ? 

Mrs.  B.  Yes,  my  dear  boy,  the  day  of  our  death 
will  be  to  each  of  us  the  time  when  our  accounts 
shall  be  closed,  and  when  our  faithful  service,  how- 
ever poor  and  humble,  if  it  have  been  faithful  and 
zealous,  will  be  accepted  by  a  Master,  who  is  a  God 
of  mercy.  But  supposing  the  servant  to  whom  five 
talents  had  been  given  had  begun  by  being  very  in- 
dustrious, and  after  a  little  time  had  gained  two  more; 
suppose  he  had  then  rested  satisfied,  do  you  think  he 
would  then  have  been  entitled  to  hear,  "  Well  done, 
thou  good  and  faithful  sen^ant,  enter  thou  into  the 
joy  of  thy  Lord  ?"  ^ 


38  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

Henry.  No,  mamma,  I  do  not  suppose  lie  would : 
and  yet  the  other  servant  only  gained  two  talents 
more  than  he  had  at  first,  and  he  had  the  same  thing 
said  to  him. 

Mrs.  B.  Do  you  remember  what  we  read  yester- 
day, "  unto  M'homsoever  much  is  given,  of  him  shall 
be  much  required,  and  to  whom  men  have  committed 
much,  of  him  they  will  ask  the  more  !"*  It  is  not 
the  extent  of  our  acquirements  which  God  will  con- 
sider, so  much  as  the  proportion  which  they  bear  to 
our  original  advantages.  I  will  explain  this  to  you 
at  once  by  the  parable.  It  is  very  true,  as  you  say, 
that  one  servant  gained  five  talents,  and  the  other 
only  two,  and  yet  their  master  was  equally  satisfied 
with  them :  but  to  the  one  he  had  originally  given 
five,  and  the  servant,  by  his  industry,  had  gained  one 
for  each  of  the  five ;  to  the  other  he  gave  two,  and 
he  also  had  gained  one  for  each  of  the  two.  To 
the  third  he  gave  one,  and  had  he  also  gained  one, 
he  would  also  have  met  with  his  master's  approba- 
tion— he  would  have  done  equally  well,  because  his 
means  of  improvement  were  smaller.  Had  the  first 
servant  only  gained  two  talents,  having  received  five, 
he  would  not  have  been  as  industrious  in  proportion 
to  his  power,  and  would  not  have  deserved  his  mas- 
ter's approbation. 

*  Luke  xii.  48. 


THE  PARABLES.  39 

Henry.  Thank  you,  mamma ;  I  see  now  that  I  was 
mistaken,  and  that  it  was  all  quite  fair.  But  then, 
mamma,  you  do  not  mean  that  whether  we  are  more 
or  less  good,  if  we  are  as  good  as  we  can  be,  we 
shall  be  rewarded  the  same  in  heaven  ? 

Mrs.  B.  My  love,  for  our  own  actions  we  can 
hope  for  no  reioard;  for  even  the  best  of  us,  "when 
we  have  done  all,"  may  say  with  truth,  that  we  are 
only  "  unprofitable  servants."*  But  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  all  who  faithfully  serve  God  here,  whether 
their  capacities  on  earth  have  been  great  or  small, 
will  have  their  services  accepted  of  their  master :  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  we  are  told  expressly,  that  our 
future  state  of  happiness  will  be  in  proportion,  not 
to  our  means  here,  but  to  the  use  we  make  of  them. 
St.  Luke,  in  this  point,  relates  the  parable  rather  dif- 
ferently, and  supposes  each  of  the  servants  to  have 
received  the  same  sum.  The  first  gains  by  trading, 
ten  pounds,  the  second  five.  In  this  case,  as  you 
see,  each  having  the  same  advantages,  the  gain  of 
one  is  much  greater  than  the  other.  What  then  is 
the  answer  of  their  Lord  ?  To  both  he  says,  "  Well 
done,  thou  good  and  faithful  servant :"  but  to  the  first 
he  gives  "  authority  over  ten  cities ;"  to  the  second 
"  authority  over  five  chies."     To  each  he  gives  a  re- 

*  Luke  xvii.  10. 


40  CONVERSATIONS  OX 

ward,  but  a  reward  in  proportion  to  the  respective 
gains  of  eacli.  And  our  Saviour  says  liimself,  in 
another  place,  "  in  my  Father's  honse  are  many  man- 
sions"*— plainly  intimating  that  there  will  be  different 
degrees  of  reward  and  enjoyment  in  heaven,  propor- 
tioned to  our  capacities  for  receiving  them.  There 
"  shall  we  know  even  as  we  are  known"|  to  God ;  and 
all  the  doubts  and  uncertainties  which  we  must  feel 
here  will  there  be  removed  for  ever.  Meanwhile  we 
may  rest  assured  of  this,  that  we  have  no  hard  Master 
to  serve;  that  "his  yoke  is  easy,  and  his  burden 
light."J  He  views  with  equal  eyes  the  high  and  low, 
rich  and  poor,  great  and  small;  and  holiness  and 
goodness  are  the  only  means  whereby  we  may  hope 
to  see  him.  But  if  we  neglect  the  "talents"  entrust- 
ed to  oiir  care,  if  we  refuse  to  cherish  and  foster  our 
good  dispositions,  and  suffer  them  to  be  overcome 
by  evil,  consider  what  was  the  case  of  the  "  wicked 
and  slothful  servant."  Once  more  remember  the 
money  was  entrusted,  for  the  especial  purpose  of 
trading — he  had  the  commands  of  his  master  so  to 
employ  it;  instead  of  which,  he  buried  it  in  the 
earth,  and  when  his  master  returned,  endeavoured  to 
excuse  himself  by  pretending  that  fear  of  misusing  it 
had  induced  him  to  bury  it  in  the  ground,  where  it 
had  lain  idle  for  many  years. 

*  John  xiv.  2.        f  1  Cor.  xiii.  12.        t  Matt.  xi.  30. 


THE  PARABLES.  41 

Henry.  Well,  mamma,  but  he  paid  it  back  again, 
just  as  he  received  it. 

Mrs.  B.  Were  those  the  orders  of  his  master  ? 
Does  not  our  Master  say  to  us,  I  give  you  faculties, 
and  dispositions,  and  opportunities  of  doing  good :  I 
order  you  to  cultivate  them,  and  make  the  most  of 
them  ?  Would  it,  do  you  think,  be  an  answer,  were 
we  to  say  to  our  Lord,  '"•Lord,  I  possessed  till  my 
death  all  the  faculties  thou  gavest  me;  but  I  never 
exercised  them ;  I  was  afraid  of  doing  wrong,  and  I 
did  no  good :  I  let  all  my  good  dispositions  lie  idle, 
all  my  opportunities  pass  away."  And  would  not 
God  justly  say,  "Out  of  thine  own  mouth  will  I 
judge  thee,  thou  wicked  and  slothful  servant  ?  While 
others  have  gained  ten-fold,  thirty-fold,  a  hundred- 
fold of  what  J  entrusted  to  them,  thou,  with  the  same 
opportunities,  hast  wasted  and  misused  thy  talents  ?" 
And  now  follows  what  appeared  to  Henry  to  be  in- 
justice. "Because  thou  hast  so  wasted  them,  they 
shall  be  thine  no  longer.  I  take  from  thee  that  of 
which  thou  madest  no  good  use,  and  I  give  yet  more 
and  more  to  him  who  has  proved  himself  a  good  and 
faithful  servant :  he  hath  been  faithful  over  a  little ; 
he  has  now  entered  into  the  joy  of  his  Lord:  he  shall 
have  the  opportunity,  even  now,  of  proving  more  and 
more  his  faithfulness,  and  gaining  yet  more  the  love 
of  his  master."  Is  there  any  injustice  in  this,  Henry .'' 
4* 


4J  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

Henry.  Oh  no,  mamma!  But  it  sounds  very  dif- 
ferent now  \  there  was  something,  I  forget  the  words, 
about  giving  to  him  that  had,  and  taking  away  from 
him  that  had  not,  which  seemed  very  strange. 

Mrs.  B.  Well,  my  love,  I  will  repeat  the  words 
you  mean,  and  consider  them  as  I  have  just  explain- 
ed them.  "Unto  every  one  that  hath  shall  be  given, 
and  he  shall  have  abundance  ;  but  from  him  that  hath 
not"  (that  is,  from  him  who  by  his  own  fault  has  no 
more  to  show  than  he  originally  possessed,)  "  shall 
be  taken  away  even  that  which  he  hath."* 

Mary.  Mamma,  it  seems  to  me,  that  it  is  like  the 
seed  sown  by  the  way  side,  which  you  said  the  devil 
was  suffered  to  take  away  from  the  hearts  which  were 
too  hard  for  it  to  grow. 

Mrs.  B.  Yes,  my  dear  girl,  it  is,  in  great  measure, 
the  same  case.  You  have  very  well  illustrated  the 
one  parable  by  the  other ;  and  as  in  the  former  case 
you  saw  no  injustice,  so,  I  think,  you  will  not  fancy 
any  here. 

Henry.  Oh  no,  mamma!  I  see  now  that  you  have 
explained  it,  and  I  will  not  be  so  hasty  another  time. 
But,  mamma,  what  would  the  nobleman  have  done 
if  the  sei-vant  had  not  brought  back  the  money  at  all  ? 

Mrs.  B.  My  love,  if  God  finds  fault  with,  and 

*  Matt.  XXV.  29. 


THE   PARABLES.  43 

punishes  those  who  do  not  improve  their  capacities, 
what  will  he  do  to  those  who  pervert  and  turn  them 
to  evil  ?  The  larger  the  sum  entrusted,  the  greater 
the  guilt;  the  greater  the  abilities  of  good,  the  more 
awful  is  the  sin  of  not  only  neglecting  them,  but  per- 
verting them  to  a  contrary  purpose.  Upon  the  fate 
of  such,  God  has  not  left  us  in  doubt,  and  though  he 
has  mercifully  concealed  from  our  knowledge  what 
will  be  their  punishment,  he  has  left  it  to  be  conjec- 
tured, by  figures  which  paint  it  in  the  most  awful 
terms,  but  which  I  will  not  at  present  read  to  you. 
Oh,  my  dear  children !  may  you  ever  strive  faithfully 
to  exercise  your  respective  "talents;"  and  pray  to 
him  for  his  aid  and  counsel  throughout  your  life,  that 
at  the  last  great  day  of  reckoning,  you  and  I  may  hear 
addressed  to  us  these  blessed  words,  "  Well  done,  ye 
good  and  faithful  servants,  enter  ye  into  the  joy  of 
your  Lord !" 


44  CONVERSATIO.XS   ON 


THIRD  DAY. 


PARABLES  OF   THE  LOST   SHEEP  AND   THE   PIECES  OF 
SILVER. 


Luke.  xv.  4. 

"  Mamma,"  said  Mary,  (when  the  little  party  were 
again  assembled  for  their  daily  reading,  and,  as  Henry 
called  it,  dissection  of  the  parables,)  "  when  we  were 
talking  yesterday  about  the  angels,  did  you  not  say 
that '  there  was  joy  among  them  over  one  sinner  that 
repented,  more  than  over  ninety-and-nine  just  people 
who  needed  no  repentance  ?'  I  meant  to  have  asked 
you  then,  hut  1  did  not  like  to  interrupt  yoiT,  whether 
this  was  not  very  odd,  that  they  should  like  a  repent- 
ant sinner  better  than  a  thoroughly  good  man,  who 
never  did  any  thing  wrong  ?  Is  not  this  an  encourage- 
ment to  do  wrong  first,  that  we  may  be  good  after- 
wards ?" 

Mrs.  B.  I  do  not  wonder  at  your  asking  the  ques- 
tion, but  you  have  not  put  the  case  quite  fairly.  It 
is  no  where  asserted  in  Scripture,  nor  is  it  to  be  by 


THE    PARABLES.  45 

any  means  imagined  from  our  knowledge  of  their 
nature,  that  God  himself,  or  his  holy  angels,  regard 
with  more  Iodc  and  good  will  the  penitent  criminal, 
than  the  perseveringly  good  and  sincere  Christian ; 
the  expression  is,  as  you  correctly  quoted  it,  that  there 
is  more  joy;  and  joy  no  doubt  in  proportion  to  the 
compassionate  sorrow  they  had  felt  for  the  former 
wickedness  and  danger  of  the  offender.  Surely, 
there  is  nothing  unnatural  in  this  feeling,  as  far  as 
we  can  judge  of  the  feelings  of  heavenly  beings  by 
our  own — still  less  any  thing  which  could  by  possi- 
bility justify  or  encourage  such  dangerous  w^icked- 
ness  as  you  suppose.  Do  you  remember  last  year, 
when  we  heard  that  the  ship,  in  which  your  uncle 
had  taken  his  passage  to  come  home  from  the  West 
Indies,  was  lost,  and  that  every  person  on  board  had 
perished,  and  we  thought  for  some  weeks  that  he  was 
dead! 

Henry.  Yes^  mamma,  and  I  remember  my  uncle 
told  us  afterwards,  that  he  had  been  just  going  on 
board  when  he  was  stopped  about  some  business, 
which  he  thought  very  provoking  just  then,  though 
afterwards  he  found  out  that  it  had  saved  his  life. 

Mrs.  B.  Very  true,  my  dear  boy;  and  this  will 
show  us  how  little  we  really  know  what  is  good  for 
us,  and  what  is  not.,  but  there  is  one  who  knows,  in 
whom  we  may  safely  trust.     But  what  I  wanted  to 


46  CONVERSATIOxXS    OJV 

impress  upon  you  was,  what  you  cannot  have  for- 
gotten, how  far  more  lively  was  our  joy  and  grati- 
tude to  that  merciful  Providence,  who  had  preserved 
your  uncle,  when  v/e  with  reason  thought  him  lost, 
than  it  would  have  been  had  we  never  thought  him 
in  any  danger.  In  the  same  manner,  we  cannot 
doubt  but  that  benevolent  beings,  as  the  angels  un- 
doubtedly are,  should  feel  a  more  lively  joy  at  seeing 
a  soul  which  had  been  in  danger  of  suffering  ever- 
lastingly, brought  to  a  sense  of  its  danger,  and  falling 
in  penitent  adoration  before  its  God,  than  if  that  soul 
had  indeed  been  "a  just  man  who  needed  no  repent- 
ance." But  where,  my  dear  children,  shall  we  find 
such  a  person  ?  Who  can  say  that  he  needs  no  re- 
pentance? "For  in  many  things,"  says  St.  James, 
"  we  all  offend."*  And  knowing  our  o\yn  unworthi- 
ness,  the  unworthiness  of  the  best  among  us  to  be 
accepted  of  God,  it  is  surely  consoling  to  know  also, 
that  our  sincere  repentance  for  our  past  sins,  and  our 
earnest  endeavour  to  avoid  them  for  the  future,  can 
give  "joy  to  the  angels  in  heaven."  But  before  we 
can  hope  to  do  so,  let  us  consider  a  little  what  is  re- 
quired of  us,  and  let  us  take  the  three  parables  which 
the  Bible  affords  us  in  illustration  of  this  subject. 

Henry.  What,  mamma,  are  there  three  parables  on 
this  subject .? 

iii.  2. 


THE  PARABLES.  47 

Mrs.  B.  Yes,  my  love.  The  first  two  indeed  are 
parables,  in  the  literal  sense  of  the  word,  compari- 
sons; not  stories  at  length,  but  short  allusions  to  cir- 
cumstances which  might  happen  any  day  in  common 
life.  The  third  is  one  of  the  longest,  one  of  the  most 
detailed,  and,  at  least,  as  it  has  always  struck  me,  the 
most  beautiful  of  any  in  the  Bible.  We  will  begin 
with  the  two  short  ones  first,  and  I  think  we  shall 
hardly  have  time  to  go  through  the  whole  three  to- 
day. 

Jesus,  in  the  course  of  his  preaching,  had  not  dis- 
dained to  associate  with  persons  who  were  looked 
down  upon  and  despised  by  the  Pharisees. 

Henry.  Who  were  the  Pharisees,  mamma  ? 

Mrs.  B.  They  were  a  sect,  my  love,  or  party 
among  the  Jews,  who  were  very  strict  observers  of 
all  the  customs  and  ceremonies  commanded  by  the 
law  of  Moses :  and  who  thought  that  so  long  as  they 
carefully  obeyed  the  law  in- these  particulars,  it  mat- 
tered little  in  comparison,  what  was  the  state  of  their 
thoughts  and  hearts.  These  persons  were  exceed- 
ingly angry  and  offended  at  Jesus  Christ,  for  making 
himself  a  companion  of  those  who  committed  noto- 
rious sins,  and  broke  the  ordinances  both  of  Moses 
and  of  God-  Now  the  Pharisees  would  have  been 
quite  right,  if  Jesus  had  made  him.self  a  companion 
of  these  persons,  in  order  to  encourage  them  in  tJieir 


48  CONVERSATIONS  OX 

wickedness,  or  to-  share  in  it ;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
he  went  among  them  to  draw  them  back  from  their 
bad  practices,  to  show  them  how  sinful  they  were, 
and  to  teach  them  the  ways  of  religion  and  of  peace. 
But  the  Pharisees  did  not  believe,  or  did  not  under- 
stand this;  Jesus,  however,  instead  of  being  angry 
with  them,  condescended  to  explain  the  reasons  of 
his  conduct.  "They  that  are  whole,"  said  he  on 
one  occasion,  "need  not  a  physician,  but  they  that 
are  sick"* — that  is,  as  a  physician  goes  to  heal,  not 
those  who  are  well,  but  those  who  are  diseased ;  so 
I,  who  am  the  great  Physician  of  the  soul,  and  whose 
great  object  is  to  cure  men  of  their  sins,  and  give  to 
their  minds  health  and  comfort,  need  not  go  to  the 
righteous  (if  any  such  there  be)  but  to  those  who  are 
sick  in  their  souls;  who  are  afflicted  with  their  sins, 
and  who  feel  that  they  have  need  of  the  healing  of 
my  words  :  to  them  I  go,  that  I  may  drive  away  their 
sickness,  forgive  their  sins,  and  lead  them  to  repent- 
ance and  to  their  God. 

On  another  occasion,  he  answered  the  same  ob- 
jections by  the  two  parables  which  I  have  already 
mentioned  to  you. 

"  What  man  of  you,"  he  said, "  having  an  hundred 
sheep,  if  he  lose  one  of  them,  doth  not  leave  the 

•  Luke  V.  31. 


THE    PARABLES.  49 

ninety-ancl-nine  in  the  wilderness,  and  go  after  that 
which  is  lost,  until  he  find  it  ?  And  when  he  hath 
found  it,  he  layeih  it  on  his  shoulder  rejoicing;  and 
when  he  cometh  home,  he  calleth  together  his  friends 
and  neighbours,  saying  unto  them,  Rejoice  with  me, 
for  I  have  found  my  sheep  which  was  lost." 

Henry.  But,  mamma,  was  it  not  very  foolish  of 
him  to  leave  all  his  other  sheep,  to  look  for  this 
one  ?  ]\Iight  not  they  have  run  away  too,  while  he 
was  looking  for  the  other.' 

Mrs.  B.  My  love,  we  must  understand  that  he 
left  the  remainder  under  proper  care ;  for  God,  who 
is  our  good  Sheplierd,  never  ceases  to  care  for  any 
of  his  flock ;  but  the  expression  is  only  a  strong 
one,  to  signify  the  earnest  solicitude  of  our  heavenly 
Father,  more  especially  shown  in  the  earthly  mission 
of  his  blessed  Son,  to  reclaim  sinners,  his  wandering 
sheep,  from  the  errors  of  their  past  life,  and  to  bring 
them  home  to  their  proper  fold.  But  this  part  of  the 
parable  is  capable  of  another  interpretation ;  for 
although  the  hnmediate  purpose  of  this  comparison 
was  to  show  that,  in  the  sight  of  God,  none  of  his 
creatures  were  to  be  despised ;  or  thought  unvv'orthy 
of  being  saved  from  the  consequences  of  their  own 
wanderings  and  misconduct,  yet  there  is  a  second 
sense  in  which  it  may  be  taken,  and  which  it  was 
also,  no  doubt,  intended,    hi  this  second  sense,  each 


50  CONVERSATIONS    ON 

man  must  himself  be  considered  as  the  shepherd, 
who  has  a  certain  number  of  sheep  entrusted  to  him. 
And  this  view  of  the  first  parable  is,  perhaps,  more 
clearly  shown  by  the  second,  with  which  our  Saviour 
follows  up  the  former.     "  Either  what  woman".  .  .  . 

Mary.  Oh,  mamma!  but  had  not  we  better  finish 
one  before  v/e  begin  the  other  ?  I  am  afraid  of  getting 
puzzled  if  we  begin  two  together. 

Mrs.  B.  Do  you  remember,  my  dear  j\lary,  that 
you  assisted  yesterday  in  the  explanation  of  one  part 
of  one  parable,  by  remembering  what  had  been  said 
upon  another  the  day  before  .'*  You  may  depend  upon 
it,  that  for  young  or  old  there  is  no  better  way  of 
coming  at  the  real  meaning,  and  full  explanation  of 
any  one  passage  in  Scripture,  than  by  comparing  it 
with  a  passage  of  the  same  sacred  boolv ;  and  I  can 
engage  that  you  shall  not  be  puzzled  by  hearing 
these  two  parables  at  once.  Indeed,  they  are  placed 
one  immediately  after  the  other  in  St.  Luke's  Gospel, 
from  which  I  have  taken  them,  evidently  with  an 
intention  of  explaining  one  by  the  other.  "Either," 
our  Lord  says,  "  what  woman,  having  ten  pieces  of 
silver,  if  she  lose  one  piece,  doth  not  light  a  candle, 
and  sv/eep  the  house,  and  seek  diligently  till  she 
find  it?  And  when  she  hath  found  it,  she  calleth  her 
friends  and  her  neighbours  together,  saying.  Rejoice 
with  me,  for  I  have  found  the  piece  which  was  lost." 


THE    PARABLES.  51 

Mary.  I  see,  mamma,  that  we  shall  not  be  puzzled, 
at  least  I  think  not,  because  the  two  parables  mean 
the  same  thing,  only  one  is  a  man  losing  a  sheep, 
and  the  other  is  a  woman  losing  a  piece  of  silver. 

Mrs.  B.  Exactly  so,  my  dear;  and  I  have  read 
the  two  together,  because  one  may  serve  to  explain 
expressions  in  the  other.  For  instance,  in  the  second 
parable,  it  is  not  supposed,  that  because  the  woman 
had  lost  one  piece  of  silver,  she  took  no  care  of  the 
other  nine,  as  you,  Henry,  imagined  the  shepherd 
did  about  his  sheep.  It  only  says,  "  she  swept  the 
house,  and  searched  diligently.^  till  she  found"  that 
which  was  massing. 

Henry.  I  see  that,  mamma ;  but,  after  all,  I  don't 
understand  what  all  the  parable  means.  I  am  rather 
puzzled  with  your  two  explanations,  and  two  mean- 
ings. 

Mrs.  B.  I  will  try  if  I  can  make  it  clear  to  you. 
You  remember  the  parable  which  we  read  together 
yesterday,  of  the  nobleman  and  his  servants .''  You 
remember  also  the  punishment  of  the  servant  who 
brought  the  unemployed  money  in  the  napkin,  and 
defended  himself  for  not  having  employed  it  to  more 
purpose } 

Henry.  Yes,  mamma,  I  remember  all  that  very 
well. 

Mrs.  B.  What  do  you  suppose  would  have  been 


52  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

the  sentence  of  the  nobleman,  if,  instead  of  bringing 
it  unemployed,  he  had  altogether  lost  it? 

Henry.  1  should  think,  mamma,  he  would  have 
punished  him  still  more  severely. 

Mrs.  B.  But  suppose  the  servant,  instead  of  vindi- 
cating himself,  had  come  at  once  to  his  master,  had 
confessed  his  own  negligence,  and  begged  to  be  par- 
doned for  his  fault;  what  do  you  think  a  kind  mas- 
ter would  do  ?  Would  he  not  forgive  him  his  past 
negligence,  at  the  same  time  recommending  to  him 
to  search  again  for  that  which  he  had  lost,  assist 
him  to  find  it,  and  advise  him  to  be  more  careful  in 
keeping  it,  and  improving  it  for  the  future  ? 

Henry.  I  think  he  would  be  very  indulgent  if  he 
did  so  much  for  him. 

Mrs.  B.  Not  more  indulgent,  my  dear  boy,  than 
the  merciful  God  is  to  all  those  who  truly  turn  to 
him,  with  penitent  hearts,  acknowledging  their  past 
sins,  and  earnestly  endeavouring  to  amend  their  lives. 
And  now,  my  dears,  let  us  consider  the  woman's 
piece  of  silver,  as  we  did  the  talents  before,  as  "a 
good  disposition,  a  capacity  for  good,"  and  let  us  see 
what  moral  we  can  make  out.  In  the  first  place, 
what  was  the  woman's  fault  ? 

Henry.  I  do  not  see  that  she  was  in  any  fault, 
mamma ;  she  could  not  help  losing  the  money,  and 
she  set  about  looking  for  it  directly. 


THE    PARABLES.  53 

Mary.  Yes,  Henry,  she  might;  if  she  had  minded 
where  she  put  it,  and  what  she  did  with  it,  it  would 
never  have  been  lost  at  all. 

Mrs.  B.  Right,  my  dear  girl.  Her  fault  M'as  care- 
lessness and  inattention  to  the  value  of  that  which 
she  possessed;  and  depend  upon  it,  in  the  moral 
point  of  view,  we  have  need  of  full  as  much  watch- 
fulness over  ourselves  and  our  dispositions,  as  over 
our  earthly  possessions,  which  in  the  end  are  of  far 
less  value  to  us. 

Mary.  But,  mamma,  I  know  it  is  necessary  to  be 
very  careful  to  avoid  a  fault  which  one  is  inclined 
to;  but  if  one  has  naturally  a  good  disposition,  one 
cannot  lose  it,  can  one.-* 

Mrs.  B.  Do  you  know  Mr. ,  who  called  here 

the  other  day  ? 

Henry.  What  that  fretful,  ill-tempered  man,  who 
always  looks  so  discontented  with  every  thing,  and 
ready  to  quarrel  with  every  body? 

Mrs.  B.  That  very  fretful,  discontented  looking 
man  was  at  school  with  your  father,  and  I  have 
heard  him  say,  that  there  never  was  a  boy  who 
naturally  had  a  finer  temper:  but  from  being  always 
humoured  and  indulged,  he  became  gradually  selfish^ 
impatient  of  contradiction ;  and  certainly  has  now  a 
temper  which  renders  him  disagreeable,  not  only  to 
other  people,  but  to  himself. 
5* 


54  CONVERSATIONS    ON 

Mary.  But  if  he  was  always  so  spoilt,  that  was 
not  his  fault,  mamma. 

Mrs.  B.  He  is  certainly  very  much  to  be  pitied 
for  having  been  treated  so  foolishly  when  he  was  a 
child.  But  I  only  mentioned  him  as  an  instance 
how  the  best  dispositions,  unless  carefully  watched, 
will,  like  the  piece  of  silver,  be  "  lost"  to  their 
owners.  It  is  the  same  with  the  powers  of  the  mind, 
memory,  for  instance,  as  it  is  with  the  moral  virtues; 
and  these  also,  remember,  it  is  our  duty  to  keep  up 
and  to  attend  to,  if  we  mean  to  be  as  useful  in  the 
world,  as  our  Creator  intended  we  should;  but  we 
are  at  present  considering  rather  virtues,  than  talents. 

Mary.  Well,  but,  mamma,  if  our  good  dispositions 
are  so  lost,  what  can  w^e  do  to  recover  them? 

Mrs.  B.  What  is  it  said  in  the  parable  that  the 
woman  did,  when  she  discovered  that  she  had  lost 
the  piece  of  silver  ? 

Mary.  She  swept  the  house  diligently  till  she 
found  it. 

Mrs.  B.  Well,  Henry,  and  what  did  your  friend  the 
shepherd  do,  when  he  discovered  the  loss  of  his  sheep  ^ 

Henry.  He  went  after  it,  and  left  all  the  rest  till 
he  had  found  it. 

Mrs.  B.  Well,  my  loves,  and  so  should  a  good 
Christian  do,  and  so  would  a  good  Christian  do, 
when  he  perceived  that  he  had  "  lost"  any  good  dis- 


THE   PARABLES.  55 

position  which  he  formerly  possessed ;  that  he  was 
more  easily  provoked,  more  selfish,  less  generous, 
less  charitable  to  his  neig-hbours,  less  sensible  of 
the  mercies,  less  careful  of  the  approbation  of  his 
God,  than  he  used  to  be.  He  w^ould  "  sweep  the 
house  diligently,"  he  would  pray  earnestly  to  God, 
that  by  his  assistance  he  might  be  enabled  to 
"  cleanse  the  thoughts  of  his  heart"  from  all  im- 
purity, from  all  that  might  hide  and  smother  his 
good  qualities.  He  would,  like  the  shepherd,  leave 
for  the  time  in  great  measure  every  other  care,  he 
would  apply  his  whole  attention  to  remedy  the  evil, 
to  "find"  again  that  which  he  had  lost — nor  would 
he  cease  in  his  exertions,  till,  by  the  mercy  and  grace 
of  God,  following  his  prayers  and  resolutions,  he  had 
succeeded  in  finding  it. 

Henry.  O,  mamma  !  I  see  quite  now  what  your 
second  explanation  means,  and  I  think  I  understand 
it  better  than  I  did  the  first.  And  then  how  happy 
it  would  be  to  call  all  one's  friends,  and  tell  them 
that  one  was  become  so  good ! 

Mrs.  B.  There  would  be  but  little  of  a  Christian 
spirit,  my  dear  boy,  in  such  boasting  to  our  friends; 
for  the  very  best  of  us  must  feel  that  they  have  many 
sins  to  answer  for.  '*  There  is  none  good,"  says 
our  Lord,  "  but  One,  that  is  God  ;"*  and  our  religion 

*  Luke  xviii.  19. 


56  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

teaches  us  always  to  think  rather  of  our  many  sins 
than  of  our  few  approaches  to  goodness.  "  Let  no- 
thing be  done,"  says  St.  Paul,  "  through  strife  or 
vain  gloiy  ;  but  in  lowliness  of  mind,  let  each  esteem 
other  better  than  themselves."*  J  do  not  say,  how- 
ever, that  you  might  not  feel  in  your  owui  conscience 
that  happiness  which  always  accompanies  a  success- 
ful attempt  to  conquer  a  bad  inclination,  or  to  en- 
courage a  good  one.  Our  best  endeavours  to  serve 
God,  are  but  very  imperfect,  and  cannot,  of  them- 
selves, be  satisfactory  to  him ;  but,  for  the  sake  of 
our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  he  will  accept  of  them,  if 
we  make  them  honestly:  and  though  we  must  not 
call  together  our  earthly  friends,  we  may  remember, 
with  joy  and  gratitude,  that  we  have  heavenly  friends 
rejoicing  over  every  successful  attempt  that  we  make 
to  become  more  virtuous,  and  less  unworthy  of  the 
goodness  of  God.  And  this  we  have  on  the  authority 
of  the  Bible  itself;  for  each  of  these  two  parables 
ends  thus,  and  the  verse  is  repeated  at  the  close  of 
each  :  "  Likewise,  I  say  unto  you,  there  is  joy  in  the 
presence  of  the  angels  of  God  over  one  sinner  that 
repenteth." 

Henry.   Then  do  you  mean,  mamma,  that  when- 
ever 1  am  inclined  to  be  naughty,  and  tight  against 

•  Phil.  ii.  3. 


THE  PARABLES.  57 

my  inclination,  I  may  think  that  the  angels  are  real- 
ly glad  that  I  am  trying  to  be  good  ? 

Mrs.  B.  You  may  not  only  think,  but  be  sure, 
my  dear  little  boy,  that  not  only  the  angels,  but  the 
great  God  himself,  sees  you,  and  rejoices:  and  loves 
you  with  a  love  far  greater  even  than  your  earthly 
father  or  I  feel  for  you.  The  best  actions  of  the 
best  persons  on  earth  are  unworthy  to  be  considered 
by  the  great  Governor  and  Father  of  all  the  universe; 
but  the  least  good  actions  of  the  least  among  us  are 
not  lost  upon  him,  who  knoweth  whereof  we  are 
made,  who  measures  our  capacities,  and  accepts  our 
poorest  endeavours  in  his  service.  Upon  this  sub- 
ject, however,  we  will  go  more  at  length  to-morrow, 
for  to-day's  reading  has  already  taken  us  up  nearly 
our  usual  time,  and  I  think  we  shall  have  a  good 
deal  to  say  upon  the  parable  of  the  prodigal  son. 

Mary.  Oh,  mamma  !  may  not  we  go  on  to-day  } 
I  am  not  at  all  tired. 

Mrs.  B.  No,  my  love ;  I  have  other  things  to  do, 
and  I  cannot  go  beyond  our  time ;  and  it  would  be  a 
pity  to  begin  so  beautiful  a  parable  without  going 
through  it.    So  we  will  shut  the  book  till  to-morrow. 


58  CONVERSATIONS  ON 


FOURTH  DAY. 


PARABLE    OF    THE    PRODIGAL    SON. 


Luke  xv.  11. 

Mrs.  B.  Well,  my  loves,  I  see  you  are  come 
very  exactly  at  our  time  for  the  parables. 

Henry.  Oh  yes,  mamma,  I  do  so  like  these  read- 
ings !  and  Mary  and  I  both  think  that  we  make  out 
the  parables  better  every  day.  But  will  you  begin 
mamma,  with  the  one  that  you  said  yesterday  was 
so  beautiful  ^ 

Mrs.  B.  You  are  in  a  great  hurry,  Henry  ;  but 
bring  me  the  book,  and  we  will  lose  no  time.  The 
parable  immediately  following  those  which  we  read 
yesterday  in  St.  Luke's  Gospel,  is  that  of  the  prodigal 
son.  It  is  partly  upon  the  same  subject  as  the  former 
ones ;  but  as  almost  every  word  in  it  is  of  conse- 
quence, I  think  we  had  better  read  it  through  with- 
out stopping  for  remarks,  and  then  begin  with  it  over 
again,  and  take  it  bit  by  bit. — "  A  certain  man,"  said 
Jesus,  "  had  two  sons  •,  and  the  younger  of  them  said 


THE  PARABLES.  59 

to  his  father,  Father,  give  me  the  portion  of  goods 
that  falleth  to  me.  And  he  divided  imto  them  liis 
living.  And  not  many  days  after,  the  younger  son 
gathered  all  together,  and  took  his  journey  into  a 
far  country,  and  there  wasted  his  substance  with 
riotous  living.  And  Avhen  he  had  spent  all,  there 
arose  a  mighty  famine  in  that  land  ;  and  he  began  to 
be  in  want.  And  he  went  and  joined  himself  to  a 
citizen  of  that  country.  And  he  sent  him  into  his 
fields  to  feed  swine.  And  he  \vould  gladly  have 
satisfied  his  hunger  with  the  husks  that  the  swine 
did  eat,  and  no  man  gave  unto  him." 

Mary.  Poor  man,  how  very  miserable  he  must 
have  been !  And  how  very  sorry  that  he  had  ever 
left  his  father's  house  !  but  go  on,  mamma,  I  wall  not 
stop  you.     What  did  he  do  ? 

Mrs.  B.  You  shall  hear,  my  love. — "  And  when 
he  came  to  himself,  he  said  :  How  many  hired  ser- 
vants of  my  father's  have  bread  enough  and  to  spare, 
and  I  perish  with  hunger !  I  will  arise,  and  go  to  my 
father,  and  will  say  unto  him.  Father,  I  have  sinned 
against  heaven  and  before  thee,  and  am  no  more 
worthy  to  be  called  thy  son  ;  make  me  as  one  of  thy 
hired  servants." 

Henry.  That's  right,  that's  right !  You  see,  Mary, 
he  was  very  sorry.     Well,  mamma  ! 

Mrs.  B.   "And  he  arose,  and  came  to  his  father. 


60  CONVERSATIONS    ON 

But  when  he  was  yet  a  great  way  off,  his  father  saw 
him,  and  had  compassion,  and  ran,  and  fell  on  his 
neck,  and  kissed  him." — 

Mary.  O,  mamma,  I  am  so  glad !  and  I  don't 
know  why,  but  I  could  cry,  though  I  am  very  glad 
for  him. 

Mrs.  B.  "  And  the  son  said  unto  him,  Father,  I 
have  sinned  against  heaven,  and  in  thy  sight,  and  am 
no  more  worthy  to  be  called  thy  son.  But  the 
father  said  to  his  servants.  Bring  forth  the  best  robe, 
and  put  it  on  him,  and  put  a  ring  on  his  hand,  and 
shoes  on  his  feet :  and  bring  hither  the  fatted  calf,  and 
kill  it,  and  let  us  eat,  and  be  merry ;  for  this  my  son 
was  dead,  and  is  alive  again,  he  w^as  lost,  and  is  found. 
And  they  began  to  be  merry.  Now  his  elder  son 
was  in  the  field ;  and  as  he  came,  and  drew  nigh  to 
the  house,  he  heard  music  and  dancing.  And  he 
called  one  of  the  servants,  and  asked  what  these  things 
meant.  And  he  said  unto  him,  Thy  brother  is  come, 
and  thy  father  hath  killed  the  fatted  calf,  because  he 
hath  received  him  safe  and  sound. 

Henry.  What  a  pleasant  surprise  for  him,  mamma ! 
how  glad  he  must  have  been  when  he  came  in,  to 
hear  such  good  news,  and  to  see  his  brother  again. 

Mrs.-  B.  Wait  a  little — "  And  he  w^as  angry,  and 
would  not  go  in." 

Henry.  Angry,  mamma!  Angry  that  his  brother 
was  come  back !     What  could  he  be  angry  about } 


THE    PARABLES.  61 

Airs.  B.  If  you  will  let  me  read  on,  you  shall  hear 
what  he  had  to  say  for  himself.  "  He  was  angry  and 
would  not  go  in,  therefore  came  his  father  out  and 
entreated  him." 

Henry.  I  am  very  sure,  if  I  had  been  his  father,  I 
would  not  have  done  any  such  thing. 

Mrs.  B.  (laughing.)  My  dear  Henry,  if  you  are  so 
very  indignant,  we  shall  never  finish  the  parable. 

Henry.  Well,  mamma,  I  will  wait  if  I  can ;  but  what 
a  strange  man  to  be  angry  because  his  brother  was 
come  home ! 

Mrs.  B.  May  I  go  on }  "  And  he  answering, 
said  to  his  father,  Lo,  these  many  years  do  I  serve 
thee,  neither  transgressed  I  at  any  time  thy  command- 
ments ;  and  yet  thou  never  gavest  me  a  kid  that  I 
might  make  merry  with  my  friends  :  but  as  soon  as 
this  thy  son  was  come,  which  hath  wasted  thy  sub- 
stance in  riotous  living,  thou  hast  killed  for  him  the 
fatted  calf." 

Mary.  But  surely,  mamma,  Henry  is  quite  right. 
I  cannot  understand  how  any  body  could  be  so 
wicked  as  to  think  of  being  angry  at  such  a  time. 

Mrs.  B.  No,  my  dear  children,  I  bless  God  that  I 
think  you  do  not  know  the  vice  of  envy,  nor  the 
tonuents  it  brings  upon  those  who  are  capable  of  it ; 
but  we  will  finish  the  parable,  and  keep  our  remarks, 
if  we  can,  for  our  second  reading  of  it.  Hear  the 
6 


62  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

kind  father's  answer, — "And  he  said  unto  him,  Son,  * 
thou  art  ever  with  me,  and  all  that  I  have  is  thine. 
It  was  meet  that  we  should  make  merry  and  be  glad ; 
for  this  thy  brother  was  dead  and  is  alive  again,  and 
was  lost  and  is  found." 

Mary.  Well,  mamma,  you  were  quite  right;  that 
is  a  very  beautiful  parable,  but  I  am  so  glad  that  the 
poor  younger  son  came  back,  and  that  his  father  was 
so  kind  to  him. 

Mrs.  B.  "Likewise,"  says  Jesus  Christ  unto  us  all, 
"  there  is  joy  in  the  presence  of  the  angels  of  God 
over"  every  "sinner  that  repenteth."  But  let  us 
now  examine  the  parable,  bit  by  bit,  to  see  what  moral 
for  our  own  conduct,  and  what  knowledge  of  the 
mercy  and  goodness  of  God  we  can  draw  from  it. 

Henry.  I  had  forgotten  the  moral,  -mamma ;  I  had 
forgotten  that  it  applied  to  us;  I  was  only  thinking 
of  the  people  in  the  parable. 

Mrs.  B.  And  now,  Henry,  that  you  remember  there 
is  an  application  to  be  made,  do  you  think  you  can 
make  it  ?  Do  you  think  you  can  tell  me  whom  the 
people  in  the  parable  are  meant  to  represent  ? 

Henry.  Yes,  mamma,  I  think  I  can;  the  father 
means  God,  and  the  two  sons  ....  no,  mamma,  I  am 
not  sure  about  the  sons. 

Mrs.  B.  Well,  my  love,  we  will  leave  them  for  a 
little  while.     God,  the  great  and  Almighty  God,  is, 


THE   PARABLES.  63 

as  you  suppose,  represented  by  the  kind  and  merciful 
father;  and  this  endearing  term  is  the  one  in  which 
he  delights,  in  his  written  word,  to  represent  himself. 
We  are  directed,  as  you  know,  in  what  is  commonly 
called  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  which  was  taught  to 
his  disciples,  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  himself,  to 
pray  to  God  as  "  Our  Father  in  heaven  :"  and  in  the 
Psalms  we  are  told,  that  •'  like  as  a  father  pitieth  his 
own  children,  even  so  tlie  Lord  pitieth  them  that  fear 
him."*  You,  my  dear  children,  cannot  know  all  the 
strength  of  these  expressions ;  but  who  do  you  sup- 
pose on  earth  loves  you  the  most?  Who  feels  the 
most  sorrow  when  you  do  wrong  ?  Who  is  the  most 
happy  when  you  are  good  ? 

Both  children.  Oh,  you,  mamma,  and  papa ! 

Mrs.  B.  Yes,  my  loves,  I  believe  we  do  love  you 
both,  as  well  as  earthly  parents  can  love,  and  yet  be- 
lieve me,  dear  children,  our  love  for  you,  and  our 
care  of  you,  are  far,  far  less,  than  those  which  the 
Almighty  God  extends  to  all  his  creatures.  He  is 
the  tenderest  of  fathers,  the  most  careful  of  parents. 
He  it  is  who  has  made  us,  who  hourly  watches  over 
us,  and  protects  us  all;  who  has  redeemed  us  from 
the  consequences  of  our  own  sin,  who  forgives  us, 
and  who  will  finally,  if  we  pray  to  him,  and  love 

*  Psalm  ciii.  13. 


64  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

him,  receive  us  to  dwell  with  him  in  everlasting  hap- 
piness. 

Mary.  But,  mamma,  wait  a  moment,  for  it  quite 
puzzles  one  to  think  how  God  can  know  and  attend 
to  so  many,  many  thousand  people  there  are  in  all 
the  world. 

Mrs.  B.  My  love,  we  may  go  on  endlessly  con- 
templating the  wonders  of  the  omniscience  of  tl>at 
God,  who  is  "over  all  from  the  beginning,"  who 
knows  all  the  secrets  of  every  heart,  beholds  every 
part  of  the  creation  at  one  glance,  and  rules  and 
governs  all  according  to  his  pleasure — "  Such  know- 
ledge," as  David  says  in  the  Psalms,  "  is  too  won- 
derful for  us — we  "  cannot  attain  unto  it."*  But  the 
greater  and  the  more  wonderful  is  God,  the  greater 
is  his  condescension,  his  love,  in  humbling  "himself 
to  behold  the  things  that  are  in  heaven  and  earth  :"| 
and  knowing  all  this,  how  implicitly  should  we  trust 
to  his  almighty  goodness  and  fatherly  care  over  us ! 
If  your  father  or  I  tell  you  to  do  any  thing  here,  you 
know  that  it  is  told  you  for  your  own  good.  How 
much  more,  then,  should  we  always  think  this  of  a 
heavenly  Father,  who  cannot  be  mistaken,  whose 
knowledge  is  so  infinite,  and  whose  love  is  so  greatly 
beyond  all  that  we  can  conceive !     How  careful  ought 

*  Psalm  cxxxix.  6.  -j-  Psalm  cxiii.  6. 


THE   PARABLES.  65 

we  to  be  in  all  things  to.  be  obedient,  affectionate, 
dutiful  children,  to  so  heavenly,  so  indulgent  a  Father! 
But  to  return  to  the  parable  :  you  cannot  make  out, 
Henry,  who  the  two  sons  are  ?     Can  you,  Mary  ? 

Mary.  Are  they  not  meant  for  good  people,  and 
wicked  people ;  taking  one  of  each  as  an  example  ? 

Mrs.  B.  I  fear,  my  love,  there  are  few  who  can 
justly  call  themselves  good  people.  But  you  are  so 
far  right,  that  the  two  sons  do  represent  two  classes 
of  persons  ;*  the  one,  those  who  endeavour  to  live 
after  the  commandments,  and  as  if  in  the  presence 
of  God  himself,  their  heavenly  Father  :  and  the  other, 
those  who  forsake  his  protection,  and  follow  the 
sinful  inclinations  of  their  own  hearts.  And  now 
see,  my  dear  children,  what  is  the  first  mistaken  step 
of  the  prodigal  son  ?  What  was  the  first  thing  that  is 
told  of  him  ? 

Henry.  He  went  and  asked  his  father  to  give  him 
the  portion  of  goods  which  belonged  to  him. 

Mrs.  B.  Quite  right,  my  dear  Henry;  but  what 
then  ?  Can  either  of  you  go  on  ? 

Mary.  He  took  his  journey  into  a  far  country, 
and  there 

*  I  have  thought  it  better  to  take,  in  the  first  instance,  the 
practical  explanation,  as  applying  to  all  ages  of  the  world,  and 
not  to  perplex  the  minds  of  children  with  the  interpretation  of 
the  two  sons  as  applying  to  the  Jews  and  Gentiles. 

6* 


66  CONVERSATIONS   ON 

Mrs.  B.  Stop,  my  clear  girl ;  we  have  got  beyond 
the  Jirst  mistake.  "  He  took  his  journey  into  a  far 
country ;"  he  left  the  security  of  his  father's  house ; 
he  trusted  to  his  own  prudence  and  judgment;  he 
thouo^ht  that  he  was  able  to  manas'e  his  own  affairs 
belter  than  his  father  could  manage  them  for  him — ■ 
that  he  needed  no  assistance,  no  advice  ;  he  "  gathered 
together"  the  property  which  was  to  be  his,  and 
which,  we  must  suppose,  he  ought  to  have  employed, 
like  the  "  talents,"  in  trading,  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
creasing his  stock. 

Mary.  Oh !  now  I  see,  mamma,  you  mean  that 
we  ought  not  to  take  ourselves  out  of  the  guidance 
and  protection  of  God,  and  trust  to  our  own  sense  to 
direct  us. 

Mrs.  B.  You  have  taken  my  meaning  very  well, 
my  dear  Mary ;  or  rather  I  should  say,  not  my  mean- 
ing, but  the  meaning  of  him  who  made  the  parable, 
and  who  knows  that  "  we  have  no  power  of  our- 
selves to  help  ourselves."*  And  yet  how  often  do 
we  think  that  we  could  arrange  things  for  ourselves 
better  than  the  providence  of  our  Almighty  Father 
arranges  them  for  us!  How  often  are  we  foolishly 
discontented  with  trifling  things  which  happen  to  us, 
and  which  after  the  momentary  vexation  is  past,  have 

•  Collect  for  the  Second  Sunday  in  Lent. 


THE  PARABLES.  67 

no  influence  upon  our  comfort  or  happiness !  Is  not 
this  to  withdraw  ourselves  from  our  Father's  house; 
to  take  the  portion  which  falleth  to  us,  and  to  em- 
ploy it  according  to  our  own  inclinations  and  fancies  ? 

Mary.  But,  mamma,  why  did  the  father  allow  his 
son  to  take  all  that  money,  if  he  thought  he  would 
make  such  a  bad  use  of  it  ? 

Mrs.  B.  [f  we  are  to  take  the  question  as  of  an 
earthly  father,  we  must  suppose  that  the  son  was  of 
that  age  when  legally  the  father  could  not  refuse  to 
allot  to  him  his  maintenance.  Jf  we  are  to  consider 
it  as  applying  to  "  our  Father  in  heaven,"  we  must 
remember  the  case  of  the  talents  again,  and  that,  un- 
less we  have  our  portion,  in  a  certain  sense,  at  our 
own  disposal,  there  can  be  no  trial  of  our  good  or 
our  evil  dispositions.  We  have  all,  even  the  least 
amonor  us,  somethinor  to  manage  for  ourselves — some 
talents  of  which  we  are  to  make  the  most.  But  after 
our  stock,  or  "  the  portion  that  falleth  to"  us,  has 
been  put  into  our  hands,  it  remains  in  our  own  choice 
how  far  we  will  submit  the  disposal  of  it  to  the  com- 
mands and  recommendation  of  a  heavenly  Father ; 
how  far  we  will  still,  though  entrusted  with  the  con- 
duct of  our  own  affairs,  continue  in  our  Father's 
house;  or  how  far  we  choose  to  wander  "  into  a  far 
country,"  remove  ourselves  from  his  superintending 
care,  cease  to  consult  his  wishes,  and  employ  our 


bQ  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

time,  our  talents,  our  fortune,  and  whatever  else  is 
entrusted  to  us,  according  to  the  "  devices  and  desires 
of  our  own  heart,"  and  not  in  obedience  to  his  com- 
mands and  fatherly  wishes. 

Henry.  How  you  bring  out  new  meanings,  mam- 
ma !  things  that  I  should  never  have  thought  of,  if 
you  had  not  told  me. 

Mrs.  B.  Yes,  my  love,  you  would,  if  you  dili- 
gently applied  yourself,  as  I  trust,  when  you  are 
older,  you  will  do,  to  the  attentive  study  of  the 
Bible.  You  will  then  find,  what  the  Bible  itself 
declares,  that  *'all  Scripture  was  written  for  our 
learning;"*  but  you  will  also  find,  that,  in  order  to 
derive  the  benefit  of  it,  we  must  carefully  study  it, 
and  search  for  its  hidden  meanings,  with  earnest 
prayer  to  God,  that  he  will  "  open  our  understand- 
ings, that  we  may  understand  the  Scriptures."!  The 
Jews  at  Berea  are  commended  by  St.  Luke,  in  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  inasmuch  as  they  "  searched 
the  Scriptures  daily  ;"J  and  so,  if  we  mean  to  derive 
the  proper  benefit  from  them,  must  we  also;  and,  for 
our  comfort  we  may  be  sure  of  this,  that  the  more 
we  search  the  more  we  shall  obtain.  But  to  go  on 
with  our  parable,  which  will  take  us,  I  fear,  a  longer 

*  Collect  for  the  Second  Sunday  in  Advent.     Rom.  xv.  4. 
-j-  Luke  xxiv.  45.  \  Acts  xvii.  11. 


THE    PARABLES.  69 

time  than  we  can  spare  for  it  to-day.  After  leaving 
his  father's  house,  what  did  this  foolish  young  man 
do?  Do  you  remember,  Henry? 

Henry.  Yes,  mamma;  he  spent  all  that  he  had, 
and  came  to  great  distress. 

Mrs.  B.  But  how  did  he  spend  it  ?  Was  it  by 
misfortune  in  his  business  that  he  became  poor,  or 
by  his  own  fault  ?  What  does  the  parable  say  that 
he  did  ? 

Henry.  He  spent  it  in  riotous  living. 

Mrs.  B.  He  seems,  my  love,  to  have  got  among 
idle  and  wicked  people,  with  whom  he  forgot  the 
order  and  regularity  of  his  father's  household,  and 
the  precepts  of  virtue  and  of  religion  which  he  had 
learnt  there :  to  have  followed  a  life  of  extravagance, 
and  what  is  very  falsely  called  pleasure.,  thinking  of 
nothing  but  the  amusement  of  the  moment,  till  he 
found  that  he  had  spent  all  his  money,  and  that  in 
a  time  of  general  distress,  he  was  in  absolute  want 
and  famine.  And  so  it  will  be  wdth  us  also,  if  we 
withdraw  ourselves  from  the  protection  of  our  Al- 
mighty Father ;  if  we  cease  to  pray  for  his  assistance, 
to  rely  upon  his  guidance;  left  to  our  own  wisdom 
and  strength,  we  shall  soon  fall  into  temptation  and 
into  vice  ;  for  of  this  be  sure,  that  there  is  no  virtue 
firm  and  lasting,  which  is  not  founded  on  religion, 
which  does  not  rest  on  the  security  of  our  Father's 


70  CONVERSATIOiXS    ON 

house.  If  we  abandon  him,  he  will  also  abandon  us, 
and  we  shall  be  lost ;  and  when  we  "  have  spent  all," 
when  we  have  indulged  in  the  vanities,  and  follies 
and  sinfulness  of  our  own  hearts,  and  when  trials 
and  sorrows  come,  we,  like  the  poor  young  rnan  in 
the  parable,  shall  begin  to  find,  "  that  we  are  indeed 
in  want." 

Mary.  But,  mamma,  could  none  of  his  friends  have 
helped  him,  when  he  was  in  such  distress  ? 

Mrs.  B.  My  dear  Mary,  the  friendship  of  such 
companions  as  he  had  chosen  was  not  to  be  depended 
on ;  they  had  shared  with  him  his  follies,  and  his 
crimes,  but  they  had  no  real  regard  for  him,  no  care 
for  his  distress.  His  first,  his  best,  his  surest  friend 
he  had  himself  forsaken  ;  he  had  gone  out  into  "a 
far  country,"  from  him ;  and  he  found,  as  we  also 
shall  find,  if  we  desert  our  best  and  surest,  our 
heavenly  friend,  that  of  all  those  things,  which  we 
have  chosen  and  loved,  there  is  none  which  can  give 
us  support  in  difficulties,  comfort  in  sorrow,  or  as- 
sistance in  our  extremest  need. 

Henry.  Go  on,  mamma,  if  you  please.  What  does 
it  mean  by  his  going  out  to  feed  swine  ? 

Mrs.  B.  I  am  not  aware,  my  dear,  that  there  is 
any  peculiar  figurative  meaning  in  this  :  it  is  used 
generally  to  denote  the  extreme  want  in  which  he 
now  was  ;  that  he  was  obliged  to  engage  in  the  poor- 


THE    PARABLES.  71 

est,  and  most  degrading  occupations,  and  that  even 
by  his  labour  in  these,  he  was  unable  to  satisfy  his 
necessities,  "and  no  man  gave  mito  him."  Here, 
away  from  all  his  natural  friends  and  protectors,  he 
met  with  no  pity,  no  assistance ;  those  who  saw  him 
were  strangers,  and  cared  not  for  him ;  or  they  had 
known  the  extravagance  and  folly  of  his  former  life, 
and  thought  him  justly  punished  for  his  faults.  In 
this  distress,  how  natural  it  was  that  his  thoughts 
should  turn  homewards  I  to  his  father  whom  he  had 
left,  to  whom  he  had  behaved  so  undutifully,  but 
who,  he  was  assured,  still  loved  him  ;  to  all  the  com- 
forts, all  the  happiness,  which  by  his  own  fault  he 
had  lost,  and  to  which  he  longed,  but  did  not  know 
how  to  return ! 

Mary.  I  think,  mamma,  it  was  very  well  for  him, 
as  it  turned  out,  that  the  famine  came,  and  reduced 
him  to  such  distress,  or  perhaps  he  never  would  have 
thought  of  returning  home. 

Mrs.  B.  Indeed  it  was,  my  dear  girl,  and  so  does 
God  often,  in  his  wonderful  dispensations  of  mercy 
and  providence,  make  the  very  evils  and  afflictions 
which  our  sins  have  brought  upon  us,  the  means  of 
turning  our  hearts  again  to  him,  and  making  us  wish 
to  return  to  our  Father's  house.  "  It  is  good  for  me," 
says  David  in  the  Psalms,  "  that  I  have  been  afflict- 


7M  CONVERSATIOxVS  OX 

ed,  that  I  might  learii  thy  statutes."*  And  again,  in 
the  same  Psalm, "  Before  I  was  afflicted,  I  went  astray ; 
but  now  have  I  kept  thy  word."|  Thus  does  God 
perpetually  work  good  out  of  evil;  good  to  mankind, 
even  out  of  the  evil  they  have  brought  upon  them- 
selves. Thus,  as  you  observed,  Mary,  it  was  indeed 
good  for  the  prodigal  son,  that  affliction  came  upon 
him ;  and  now  see  what  was  his  conduct.  The 
Scripture  says,  "And  when  he  came  to  himself. '''' 
Now,  what  do  you  understand  by  this,  Mary. 

Mary.  I  suppose,  mamma,  when  he  came  to  con- 
sider how  foolish  he  had  been,  and  how  he  had 
brought  all  his  distress  upon  himself. 

Mrs.  B.  Yes ;  he  is  supposed  to  have  been  all  this 
time  so  blinded  by  his  own  impetuous  passions,  as  to 
be  unable  to  exercise  the  sound  judgment  which  God 
had  given  him,  but  wliich  he  had  perverted ;  but 
when  the  mist  fell  from  his  eyes,  when  all  the  vanity 
of  his  pursuits  was  apparent  to  him,  when  he  saw 
how  little  they  had  profited  him,  then  he  began  se- 
riously to  "commune  with  his  own  heart," J — then 
"he  came  to  himself;"  and  the  first  feelings  must 
have  been  bitter  indeed,  and  bitterly  they  are  express- 
ed. "How  many  hired  servants  of  my  father  have 
bread  enough,  and  to  spare,  and  I  perish  with  hun- 

*  Psalm  cxix.  71.    f  Psalm  cxix.  67.    t  Psalm  Ixxvii.  6. 


THE    PARABLES.  73 

ger !"  That  kind  father,  that  benevolent  master,  who 
will  allow  none  to  want  who  depend  on  him — him  I 
have  left  and  forsaken  :  I,  the  son  whom  he  loved, 
who  might  have  enjoyed  all  the  abundance  and  com- 
forts of  his  house,  and  all  the  fulness  of  his  love ;  I 
have  left  and  forsaken  him,  and  now  "I  perish  with 
hunger." 

Henry.  But,  mamma,  I  think  there  was  no  great 
merit,  if  he  only  repented  when  he  found  that  he  was 
in  such  distress,  and  thought  he  coi^ld  make  himself 
more  comfortable  by  going  back  to  his  father's  house. 

Mrs.  B.  Nor  is  it  supposed,  my  dear  boy,  that 
thei'e  is  any  merit  in  our  repentance  for  our  sins,  and 
our  returning  to  our  Father,  when  we  have  forsaken 
him;  yet  we  are  assured,  that  sincere  repentance  will 
always  be  accepted;  that  he  sends  our  sufferings  for 
the  purpose  of  correcting  us,  and  that  when  that  cor- 
rection has  effected  his  purpose,  of  showing  us  our 
own  folly  and  wickedness ;  of  proving  to  us  how 
much  more  happy  we  should  have  been,  if  we  had 
never  left  his  protection  ;  he  will  accept  our  acknow- 
ledgements of  our  faults,  with  our  determination  to 
forsake  them  ;  with  our  prayers  for  pardon,  and  with 
our  return  to  him  and  his  house.  Still,  my  dear 
Henry,  there  is  one  circumstance  which  you  have  not 
yet  remarked ;  and  that  is  the  manner  in  which  the 
son  returns.  Had  he  said,  as  you  seem  to  think,  "I 
7 


74  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

have  broiaght  myself  to  gi-eat  distress ;  I  was  much 
more  comfortable  at  home ;  I  was  very  foolish  to  come 
away;  and  I  will  now  go  back  ;"  had  he  argued  thus, 
there  would  indeed  not  only  have  been  no  merit^  but 
there  would  have  bRen  a  great  additional  sin  com- 
mitted :  the  son,  so  returning,  would  never  have  been 
received  by  his  father,  as  we  are  told  he  was.  But 
what  vjas  his  language  ?  When  the  first  bitterness 
of  his  remorse  and  sorrow  was  over,  he  began  no 
doubt  to  think,  i*  I  have,  indeed,  grievously  offended 
my  good,  my  kind  father ;  J  have  despised  his  advice : 
1  have  left  his  protection  ;  but,  whenever  I  have  be- 
fore offended  him,  how  kindly  he  has  reproved  me; 
how  much  love  has  he  showli  me  even  in  correction : 
how  much  regret  has  he  felt  for  all  my  faults !  how 
anxious  a  desire  that  I  should  amend  !  Though  this, 
•my  last  fault,  is  the  worst  that  I  have  ever  committed, 
I  will  not  despair :  I  know  that  I  deserve,  and  that  I 
ought  to  receive  punishment ;  but  I'  hope  he  will 
inflict  it  with  gentleness :  I  think  he  well  knows  all 
the  feelings  of  my  heart;  he  well  knows  how  truly 
1  repent,  and  desire  to  amend;  I  will,  at  all  events, 
trust  to  his  love  and  kindness  ;  and  whatever  punish- 
ment he  may  think  fit  to  impose,  I  will  cheerfully 
submit  to,  if  he  \vill  again  receive  me  as  his  son.  '  I 
will  arise  and  go  to  my  father,  and  will  say  unto  him, 
Father,  I  have  sinned  against  heaven  and  before  thee, 
and  am  no  more  worthy  to  be  called  thy  son  :  make 


THE   PARABLES.  7<5 

me  as  one  of  thy  hired  servants.'  I  am  not  worthy 
to  be  restored  to  the  same  place  in  my  family,  which 
1  had  before  I  so  foolishly,  so  raslily  left  it :  but  in 
any  situation,  even  in  one  so  low  as  that  of  a  servant 
to  my  own  father,  I  shall  still  be  under  his  protec- 
tion ;  1  shall  still  see  him  ;  he  will  still  guard  me 
from  committing  more  errors;  and,  perhaps,  after  my 
dutiful  conduct  has  proved  to  him,  and  all,  how  truly 
I  repent  of  my  past  life,  he  may  take  me  again  to  his 
favour."  This,  my  dear  Henry,  is  the  tone  in  which 
tlie  repentant  feelings  of  the  prodigal  are  represented, 
though  shortly,  in  the  Bible,  and  by  no  means  in  the 
way  in  which  it  appeared  to  you.  Do  you  see  and 
understand  this  ? 

Henry.  Yes,  thank  you,  mamma  ;  I  see  very  well 
now,  and  I  am  very  glad  J  asked  you  that  question. 
And  now,  will  you  go  on,  mamma ! 

Mrs.  B.  I  think,  my  dears,  as  we  have  a  good 
deal  more  to  say  about  this  parable,  we  had  better 
put  off  the  reception  of  the  prodigal  son  by  his  father 
and  his  brother,  till  to-morrow. 

Mary.  Oh,  mamma,  I  am  sure  we  are  not  the  least 
tired,  if  your  are  not. 

Mrs.  B.  I  am  glad  to  hear  it,  my  dears ;  but  our 
reading  has  already  been  longer  than  usual,  and  it 
would  take  us  much  too  long  to  finish  the  parable. 
To-morrow,  therefore,  at  our  usual  time,  we  will, 
if  you  like  it.  begin  again. 


76 


CONVERSATIONS    ON 


FIFTH  DAY. 


PARABLE  OF  THE  PRODIGAL  SON  CONTINUED. 


Do  you  remember,  my  dear  children,  said  Mrs.  B., 
where  we  left  off  yesterday  ? 

Mary.  Yes,  mamma,  quite  well.  You  had  just 
shown  us,  that  the  prodigal  son  was  really  sorry  for 
his  fault,  and  that  he  came  back  to  his  father  with 
real  repentance.  But,  mamma,  Henry  and  I  have 
been  talking  about  it  since  yesterday,  and  we  want 
to  ask  you  how  it  was  that  his  father  knew  that  he 
was  really  sorry ;  for,  quite  at  first,  before  he  had 
said  any  thing,  he  ran  up  and  kissed  him  and  for- 
gave him  all. 

Mrs.  B.  Your  question,  my  dear  Mary,  shows 
that  you  have  thought  about  what  we  have  been 
reading,  and  tried  to  understand  the  moral  of  if ;  I 
will  try  to  explain  this  part  of  it  to  your  satisfaction. 
You  will  always  remember,  that  the  father  in  the 
parable  is  the  type  of  (that  is,  the  figure  by  which  to 
represent)  our  Father  which  is  in  heaven.  Recollect- 
ing this,  we  may  explain  the  verse  to  which  you 


THE  PARABLES.  77 

refer,  in  two  ways.  We  know  that  ••'  there  is  no- 
thing hid"  from  our  Father ;  that  "  there  is  not  a 
thought  in  our  hearts,  but  he  knoweth  it  altogether ;" 
and  we  may  be  assured,  that  he,  at  least,  can  well 
judge  of  the  sincerity  and  nature  of  the  repentance^ 
with  which  we  come  again  to  his  house;  and  there 
is  no  improbability  in  supposing,  that  by  earthly  means 
the  father  in  the  parable  had  become  acquainted  with 
the  situation  of  his  wandering  son  ;  that,  unknown  to 
him,  he  had  received  accounts  of  his  conduct ;  had 
watched  over  his  errors,  and  their  consequences,  and 
had  suffered  him  to  feel  those  consequences,  with  a 
view  of  recalling  him  to  better  thoughts.  But  though 
this  interpretation  is  far  from  impossible,  I  think  I 
prefer  considering  him  as  an  earthly  father,  not  to 
have  been  acquainted  with  the  whole  of  his  son's 
conduct,  nor  with  the  strong  feeling  of  his  repentance. 
But  this,  remember,  can  never  be  the  case  with  him, 
to  whom,  in  the  language  of  our  beautiful  prayer, 
"  all  hearts  are  open,  all  desires  known,  and  from 
whom  no  secrets  are  hid." 

Mary.  Well,  mamma,  then  was  it  not  very,  very 
.  .  .  was  it  not  too  .  .  .indulgent,  to  forgive  him  as 
he  did  at  once  ? 

Mrs.  B.  His  reception  of  him  was  kind  and  in- 
dulgent certainly ;  but  I  do  not  remember  the  w'ord 
forgiveness. 

7* 


78  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

Mary.    No,  mamma,  not  the  word,  but — 

Mrs.  B.  Let  us  read  the  expressions.  "  His  father 
saw  him,  and  had  compassion  on  him,  and  ran  and 
fell  on  his  neck,  and  kisf^ed  him."  He  saw  his  son, 
whom  he  had  last  seen  in  heallli  and  abundance,  and 
in  comparative  innocence  too^  returning  almost  nakedi 
sickly  with  hunger  and  weariness,  and  all  his  evils 
brought  on  him  by  his  own  sins.  He  saw  his  counte- 
nance sad  and  dejected,  and  his  steps  feeble  ;  and  he 
saw  that  in  this  state  of  misery  and  disgrace,  it  was 
still  his  wish  to  seek  comfort  in  his  father's  house. 
He  knew  that  there,  at  least,  whatever  might  have 
been  his  motive  for  returning,  he  would  be  safe  from 
fresh  temptation,  and  from  fresh  misery  in  conse- 
quence. Js  it  wonderful,  do  you  think,  my  children, 
that  in  such  a  case,  all  the  affection  of  a  father  should 
return,  that  he  should  "  have  compassion"  upon  any 
one,  much  more  his  own  son,  in  so  melancholy  a 
situation,  and  that  finding  it  was  his  pwn  son,  he 
should  "run  and  fall  on  his  neck,  and  kiss  him," 
rejoicing  that,  however  guilty,  however  wretched, 
lie  was  in  his  own  house  again  .^ 

Mary.  No,  mamma,  I  do  not  think  that  at  all  ex- 
traordinary. But  does  it  not  mean,  then,  that  he 
quite  forgave  him  .^ 

Mrs.  B.  Remember,  my  dear  Mary,  in  examining 
and  applying  the  Scriptures,  to  be  accurate  in  consi- 


THE   PARABLES.  79 

dering  the  very  expressions  :  for  nothing  is  so  likely 
to  lead  to  mistakes  in  ideas^  as  mistakes  in  icords, 
more  especially  in  the  sacred  writings.  If,  by  your 
Vv'ord  "  forgiveness,"  which  you  see  is  not  in  the 
Bible,  you  mean  that  his  father  felt  no  angry,  no  re- 
sentful feelings,  as  soon  as  he  saw  his  offending  son 
again  at  home;  if  you  mean  that  his  affection  over- 
came him,  and  made  him  shed  tears,  from  joy  and 
compassion  mixed,  you  are  right  in  your  ideas ;  but 
this  by  no  means  implies  such  forgiveness  as  should 
prevent  him  from  afterwards  employing  restraint; 
and  even,  if  necessary,  punishment  for  past  offences. 
No  doubt,  if  the  father  had  seen  that  his  son  returned, 
not  sensible  of  his  guilt,  but  only  because  he  found, 
as  Henry  thought  yesterday,  that  he  had  brought 
himself  into  a  slate  of  misery,  from  which  he  could 
relieve  himself  by  returning  to  the  comforts  of  his 
father's  house;  his  father  might  have  felt  "compas- 
sion for  him,"  might  even  have  "  fallen  on  his  neck, 
and  kissed  him ;"  but  assuredly,  he  would  afterwards 
have  made  him  feel  that  he  was  not  to  be  restored  to 
the  place  which  he  formerly  held.  He  would  have 
dealt  correction  kindly  as  a  father,  but  he  would 
have  dealt  it  to  convince  his  son  of  his  misconduct, 
and  would  not  again  have  taken  him  into  favour,  till 
he  had  found  him  truly  penitent.  But  again,  my 
loves,  remember,  that  this  cannot  be  the  case  with  a 


80  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

heavenly  Father;  that  he  knows,  even  before  the 
penitent  returns  to  him,  all  his  thoughts,  and  wishes, 
and  feelings ;  that  he  receives  indeed  with  affection 
every  son  that  returns  to  him ;  but  only  such  as 
return  to  him  "in  spirit  and  in  trutli  ;"*  that  is,  in 
sincerity  and  from  the  bottom  of  their  hearts.  "Let 
the  wicked,"  says  Isaiah,  "forsake  his  way,  and  the 
unrighteous  man  his  thoughts;  and  let  him  return 
unto  the  Lord,  and  he  will  have  mercy  upon  him ; 
and  to  our  God,  for  he  will  abundantly  pardon."f 
But  now,  Mary,  let  us  go  back  a  moment ;  for  in 
this  meeting  between  the  father  and  son,  we  have 
already  passed  over  one  circumstance,  from  which 
we  may  yet  draw  a  point  of  comparison. 

Mary.  What  can  that  be,  mamma  ?  for  I  think  we 
have  gone  over  almost  every  word  of  the  parable. 

Mrs.  B.  Almost,  but  not  quite  ;  and  in  this  parable, 
perhaps  more  than  any  other,  we  should  be  careful 
not  to  miss  a  word.  You  may  take  my  Bible,  and 
read  the  verse  out  of  it  yourself. 

Mary.  "  And  he  arose,  and  came  to  his  father. 
But  when  he  was  j^et  a  great  way  off,  his  father  saAV 
him,  and  had  compassion  on  him,  and" — 

Mrs.  B.  I  see,  my  dear  girl,  that  you  do  not  at 
once  catch  the  idea,  which  I  wished  to  point  out  to 

*  John  V.  23.  f  Isaiah  Iv.  7. 


THE  PARABLES. 


81 


you ;  and  I  am  not  surprised  at  it,  for  it  requires 
close  attention,  and  the  habit  of  reading  the  parables, 
to  make  out  their  meaning.  What  do  you  under- 
stand by  his  father  seeing  him,  '•  while  he  was  yet  a 
great  way  off?" 

Mary.  I  did  not  think  particularly  about  it,  mam- 
ma, till  you  named  it.  But  does  it  mean  that  he  was 
waiting  for  him,  and  saw  him  coming. 

Mrs.  B.  Not  precisely,  my  dear,  though  our  Father 
may  be  said  indeed  to  see  us  when  we  are  coming  to 
him,  and  to  wait  for  us  with  affectionate  love.  But 
he  does  yet  more;  let  us  compare  the  circumstances. 
The  prodigal  son  has  determined  indeed  upon  return- 
ing home,  he  is  upon  his  way,  but  he  is  not  yet 
arrived ;  he  is  yet  "  a  great  way  off."  His  father, 
however,  does  not  wait  till  he  arrives — he  goes  out 
to  meet  him  on  his  way,  to  comfort  and  support 
him,  to  lead  him  back  to  his  own  house,  whither  he 
is  desirous  of  coming.  And  so,  my  love,  does  God 
deal  whh  us.  When  we  have  offended  and  sinned 
against  him,  when  we  have  v/eakened  our  good  dis- 
positions, and  strengthened  our  bad  ones,  God  looks 
eagerly  for  the  first  symptoms  of  amendment,  for  the 
first  return  of  his  Spirit  in  our  hearts,  for  the  first 
step  we  make  towards  our  home,  jind  towards  him. 
And  when  he  sees  the  feeblest  attempts  at  returning, 
he  condescends,  "  while  w^e  are  yet  a  great  way  oflj-* 


82  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

from  him,  to  meet  us  on  our  way,  to  have  compas- 
sion upon  us,  to  support  our  steps,  and  to  lead  us 
onward  to  his  blessed  house. 

Henry.  Mamma,  I  do  not  quite  understand  how 
you  mean  being  far  from  God. 

Mrs.  B.  Being  near  to  God,  and  being  far  from 
him,  are  terms  used  in  Scripture  constantly  to  signify 
being  nearer  or  farther  from  the  attainment  of  those 
dispositions  of  the  heart  and  mind,  which  are  pleasing 
to  hinr,  and  which  never  can  be  obtained  but  by 
earnest  prayer  for  his  assistance,  and  by  constantly 
bearing  in  our  minds  that  he  sees  and  knpws  all  our 
thoughts,  and  that  we  are  always  in  his  presence. 
"•  An  unwise  man  doth  not  well  consider  this ;  and  a 
fool  doth  not  understand  it."*  An  irreligious  man 
accustoms  himself  not  to  think  of  the  presence  of 
God,  because  his  presence  must  be  a  subject  of  dread 
to  him.  He  strives,  and  for  his  punishment  he  strives 
successfully,  to  banish  God  from  his  thoughts.  Such 
a  man  is  said  to  be  far  from  God,  and  God  will  be 
far  from  him.  But  on  the  other  hand,  to  the  humble 
penitent,  who  seeks  to  return  from  his  evil  ways, 
and  to  come  to  God, — that  merciful  God  is  ever 
ready  to  lend  an  ear.  Long  before  he  attains  that 
disposition  of  mind  which  he  ought  to  have,  "  while 

*  Psalm  xcii.  6. 


THE    PARABLES.  83 

he  is  yet  a  great  way  off,"  God  draws  nigli  to  him, 
and  "  has  compassion  on  him."  What  he  requires  is 
the  earnest  wish  and  endeavour  to  approach  him ; 
"  Draw  nigh  to  God,"  says  St.  James,  "  and  he  will 
draw  nigh  to  you."*  And  in  the  Psalms  it  is  said, 
"  The  Lord  is  nigh  unto  all  them  tiiat  call  upon  him  : 
yea,  all  such  as  call  upon  him  in  truth."']'  'it  is  ne- 
cessary, however,  that  we  should  be  sincere  and 
earnest  in  our  endeavours ;  for  Jsaiah  says,  ''  This 
people  draw  near  me  with  their  mouth,  and  with 
their  lips  do  honour  me,  but  they  have  removed 
their  heart  far  from  me.";t  To  such  as  these  God 
holds  out  no  promise  that  he  will  draw  nigh ;  on 
the  contrary,  he  assures  us  that "  he  is  not  mocked,"§ 
and  will  doubtless  receive  none  but  those  who  really 
and  truly  seek  him.  And  now,  Henry,  have  I  made 
clear  to  you  what  is  meant  by  being  far  from,  or 
near  to  God  : 

Henry.  Yes,  mamma,  and  1  am  very  much  obliged 
to  you  for  making  me  understand  it  so  well.  And 
now  shall  we  go  back  to  the  parable  .^ 

Mrs.  B.  With  pleasure,  my  dear,  I  wish  only  that 
you  should  interrupt  me  whenever  there  is  any  point 
of  the  compariso7i  (you  v/ill  remember  that  is  the 

*  James  iv.  8.  -j-  Psalm  cxlv.  IS. 

4  Isa.  xxix.  13,  §  Gal.  vi.  7. 


84  CONVERSATIONS    ON 

meaning  of  a  joarabJe)  which  you  do  not  understand, 
and  I  will  then  try  to  explain  it  to  you ;  when  I  am 
sure  that  you  understand  it,  I  am  always  ready  to  go 
on.  To  come  back  then  to  the  parable,  I  would 
wish  you  to  observe  the  conduct  of  the  prodigal  son, 
upon  being  thus  received  by  his  father.  His  conduct 
hitherto  has  been  too  much  a  type  of  what  we  all 
are  with  regard  to  our  heavenly  Father ;  his  conduct 
here.,  is  a  type  and  example  of  what  we  should  he. 
What  did  he  say,  Mary } 

Mary.  Only  what  he  had  determined  to  say  be- 
fore, mamma. 

Mrs.  B.  Read  it,  my  dear. 

Mary,  [reading.)  "  Father,  I  have  sinned  against 
heaven,  and  in  thy  sight,  and  am  no  more  worthy  to 
be  called  thy  son.'' 

Mrs.  B.  Well,  my  love,  it  is  very  true,  that  these 
w^ords  are  only  those  which  he  had  determined  be- 
fore to  use ;  but  is  there,  do  you  think,  no  moral 
intended  to  be  drawn  from  the  very  repetition  of 
them  ?  The  words  were  the  same,  it  is  true,  but 
what  were  the  circumstances  ? 

Mary.  Oh !  I  think  I  see  what  you  mean,  mam- 
ma: you  mean,  that  what  he  promised  to  do  when 
he  was  poor,  and  miserable,  he  did,  when  he  found 
that  his  father  received  him  well. 

Mrs.  B.    I  do  mean  that,  Mary ;  and  I  am  glad  to 


THE  PARABLES.  85 

see  that  you  can  so  readily  catch  the  hidden  mean- 
ing, when  you  begin  to  consider :  and  now  for  the 
moral,  as  applied  to  ourselves. 

Mary.  It  means,  mamma,  does  it  not,  that  we 
should  keep  our  good  resolutions  ?  that — but  you 
can  explain  it  so  much  better  than  I  can,  mamma, 
though  1  think  1  understand  the  sort  of  meaning. 

Mrs.  B.  I  think  you  have  a  very  good  general 
idea  of  it ;  we  will  see  what  more  w^e  can  make  of 
it.  The  words,  you  remember,  are  precisely  the 
same ;  that  is,  the  disposition  of  the  heart  remained 
unchanged  ;  for  "  out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart 
the  mouth  speaketh."*  This  shows  that  in  the  first 
place  his  repentance  was  sincere ;  that  he  did  not 
determine  before-hand  to  adopt  this  penitent  and 
humble  language,  as  a  means  of  softening  the  anger 
of  his  father;  but  from  a  deep  and  thorough  convic- 
tion that  it  was  the  langfuage  of  truth  :  that  he  had 
"  sinned  against  heaven"  and  against  his  father,  and 
was  "  not  worthy  to  be  called  his  son  :"  and  that  he 
should  be  treated  better  than  he  deserved,  were  he 
even  taken  into  the  house,  as  a  "hired  servant." 
This  is  the  Jirst  point  in  which  we  may  take  a  les- 
son;  for,  as  we  all  have  sinned,  we  all  have  need  of 
deep  repentance  •,  and  repentance,  unless  sincere,  will 

*  Matt.  xii.  34. 

8 


»6  COXVERSATIOxNS  ON 

be  of  no  avail  with  an  all-seeing  Judge.  But  the 
second  point  which  I  wish  to  notice  to  you  (and  I 
do  not  expect  you  to  find  out  these  more  distant 
meanings  without  having  them  noticed)  is  this,  that 
we  must  not  presume  upon  the  grace  and  long- 
suffering  of  God.  It  is  true,  that  upon  our  first  steps 
towards  repentance  and  amendment  of  life,  our  hea- 
venly Father,  "  while  we  are  yet  a  great  way  off," 
will  "  have  compassion  on  us,"  and  come  to  meet 
and  aid  us;  and  of  this  we  are  assured  by  many  texts 
of  Scripture ;  but  we,  on  our  parts,  should  bear  in 
mind  the  conduct  of  the  prodigal  son ;  we  should 
not  suffer  the  indulgence  of  our  Father  to  take  away 
from  us  the  sense  of  our  error;  we  should  be  as 
ready  to  exclaim,  "  Father,  I  have  sinned  against 
heaven,  and  in  thy  sight,  and  am  no  more  worthy  to 
be  called  thy  son,"  even  after  we  believe  our  re- 
pentance to  be  accepted,  as  we  were  in  the  first  feel- 
ings of  remorse  and  sorrow.  Though  lit  forgets  our 
sins,  we  never  should.  Nay,  the  greater  are  his 
mercies  towards  us,  the  more  we  should  feel  our 
own  unworthiness  of  them;  the  more  willing  should 
we  be,  if  he  demanded  it,  to  prove  our  sincerity,  by 
serving  him  in  the  lowest  offices,  as  "  hired  ser- 
vants."    Can  you  understand  this,  my  dears  ? 

Mary.  Yes,  mamma;  and  I  see  now  why  these 
words  should  be  repeated  again,  which  I  am  sure  I 
never  should  have  thought  of. 


THE   PARABLES. 


87 


Mrs.  B.  Then,  my  love,  observe  again  the  con- 
duct of  the  father.  Before^  he  saw  his  son  relurned, 
with  whatever  degree  of  repentance  in  his  heart,  at 
least  determined  to  place  himself  under  the  care  of 
his  father  for  the  future  :  he  saw  his  wretched  situa- 
tion and  sufferings;  and,  with  the  affection  of  a 
father,  "he  had  compassion  on  him,  and  ran,  and 
fell  on  his  neck,  and  kissed  him :"  but  noii\  when 
his  humble  expressions,  and  true  contrition,  proved 
that  he  was  truly  penitent  for  his  past  conduct,  all  is 
now  forgiven^  Mary.  There  are  no  reproaches,  no 
punishment,  no  anger;  the  sinner's  conscience  re- 
proaches him  sufficiently,  and  no  kindness  on  his 
father's  part  can  make  him  forget  his  own  unworthi- 
ness.  JS'oiD^  then,  the  father  feels  that  he  is  at  liberty 
to  say,  "  Bring  forth  the  best  robe,  and  put  it  on  him, 
and  put  a  ring  on  his  hand,  and  shoes  on  his  feet ; 
and  bring  hither  the  fatted  calf,  and  kill  it,  and  let  us 
eat,  and  be  merry — for,"  he  adds,  "  this  my  son  was 
dead,  and  is  alive  again :  he  was  lost,  and  is  found." 
The  first  part  of  this,  you  will  understand,  is  in  allu- 
sion to  the  eastern  customs  of  washing  the  feet  of 
strangers  and  furnishing  them  with  clothes,  and  any 
thing  of  which  they  might  stand  in  need,  on  their 
arriving  after  a  journey;  and  must  be  taken  as  mean- 
ing, generally,  making  the  son  welcome  to  all  that 
the  house  afforded,  treating  him  as  a  distinguished 


CONVERSATIONS  ON 


guest,  and  making  a  feast  and  a  rejoicing  to  receive 
him.  But  what  we  have  to  attend  to,  is  the  reason 
given :  "  For  this  my  son  was  dead,  and  is  alive 
again  ;  he  was  lost,  and  is  found/'  Now  it  is  quite 
clear  that  this  was  not  spoken  in  a  literal  sense,  as 
having  been  dead,  or  having  been  lost. 

Henry.  But  he  had  been  lost,  mamma,  though  he 
had  not  been  dead. 

Mrs.  B.  Yes,  my  dear,  he  had  been  lost ;  but  it 
was  not  upon  his  being  literally  found  again,  that 
these  expressions  were  used.  The  proof  that  he  was 
indeed  found  in  the  better  sense,  that  he  was  really 
alive  again,  was  the  humility  of  his  repentance,  and 
his  sorrow  for  his  past  life.  Jt  was  not  till  after  this, 
that  his  father  declared  him  to  be  found,  to  be  alive; 
and  in  this  way  the  Scriptures  frequently  use  both 
these  expressions.  "  1  am  not  sent,"  says  our  Sa- 
viour, "  but  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel."* 
"God,"  says  St.  Paul,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians, 
"who  is  rich  in  mercy,  for  his  great  love  wherewith 
he  loved  us,  even  when  we  were  dead  in  sins,  hath 
quickened  us"  (that  is,  made  us  alive)  "  together  with 
Christ."!  And  this  is  the  sense  in  which  we  must 
take  the  parable,  when  we  apply  it  to  ourselves.  It 
is  over  such  a  finding  as  this,  over  such  a  rising 

*  Matt.  XV.  24.  -j-  Ephes.  ii.  4,  5. 


THE  PARABLES  89 

"  from  the  death  of  sin  unto  a  life  of  righteousness," 
that  there  is  "joy  in  heaven  :"  when  we  return  unto 
our  father's  house,  forsake  a  course  of  liie,  which 
must  have  led  us  in  a  few  years  to  an  everlasting 
death ;  and  resolve  "  to  lead  a  new  life,  following 
the  commandments  of  God,  and  walking  from  hence- 
forth in  his  holy  ways  ;"*  then,  my  children,  we 
may  be  sure  that  our  God,  who  is  our  father,  will 
receive  us  into  his  house,  not  as  servants,  but  as 
children  :  and,  as  St.  Paul  argues,  "  if  children,  then 
heirs;  heirs  of  God,  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ ;"f 
heirs  of  that  glorious  and  eternal  kingdom,  which  he 
died  to  procure  for  us  !  Oh  !  my  dear  children,  from 
that  father's  house  may  we  study  never  to  depart ; 
but  if  we  do,  may  the  parable  we  have  been  reading 
teach  us  how  to  approach  him  again,  well  assured 
that  those  who  do  so  approach  him,  he  will  not  re- 
ject! 

Mary.  Indeed,  mamma,  we  will  both  pray  to  the 
good  God,  never  to  let  us  leave  his  house  all  our 
lives. 

Mrs.  B.  I  trust  you  will,  my  loves ;  and  while 
you  do  so,  depend  upon  it,  depend  upon  his  pro- 
mises, that  he  will  hear  and  grant  your  prayers.  But 
we  have  one  part  yet  to  consider  of  the  parable — the 

*  Communion  Service.  -j-  Rom.  viii.  17. 


90  CONVERSATIONS    OX 

condnct  of  the  elder  brother,  who  roused  Henry's 
indignation  so  much. 

Henry.  Well,  mamma,  but  was  it  not  very  shame- 
ful to  be  angry,  because  his  brother  was  come  home, 
and  his  father  had  received  him  kindly  ? 

Mrs.  B.  It  is,  indeed,  melancholy  to  think,  my 
love,  that  there  should  be  persons  in  existence,  to 
whom  the  happiness  of  another,  the  goodness  and 
bounty  of  God,  should  cause  pain  and  grief.  The 
vice  of  envy  is  indeed  its  own  punishment;  it  is  a 
perpetual  torment  to  the  unhappy  person  who  is 
subject  to  it,  making  his  misery  out  of  all  which 
might  add  to  his  happiness.  But,  while  such  a  vice 
is  to  be  found,  as  I  fear  it  will  be  in  all  ages,  it  was 
necessary  for  our  Saviour  to  warn  his  disciples  and 
followers  against  it ;  and  he  could  not  perhaps  have 
put  it  in  a  light  to  show  more  strongly  its  odious 
nature,  than  by  representing  one  brother  as  envious 
of  the  kindness  shown  to  another  by  tjieir  common 
father. 

Mary.  But  I  should  think,  mamma,  that  was  a  case 
which  could  never  happen. 

Mrs.  B.  I  fear  it  may,  my  dear  little  girl,  too  often, 
even  in  the  literal  sense.  But  you  must  remember 
that,  in  the  parable,  God,  the  common  father  of  all 
men,  is  intended  by  the  father ;  and  we  and  all  man- 
kind are  brethren.     In  this  sense,  how  often  are  we 


THE  PARABLES. 


91 


guilty  of  the  very  sin  which  we  so  severely  condemn 
in  the  elder  brother!  As  often  as  we  feel  inclined  to 
repine  at  our  own  situation,  to  wish  that  God  had 
given  us  some  advantage,  some  convenience  which 
we  see  enjoyed  by  others,  so  often,  to  a  certain  de- 
gree, are  we  guilty  of  this  sin ;  though  it  does  not 
put  on  its  worst  form,  unless  we  feel  inclined  to  re- 
pine, not  only  that  loe  have  not^  but  that  another  has, 
that  which  we  desire.  Then  we  are  guilty  to  the 
full  extent  of  the  son  in  the  parable ;  then  we  in  fact 
complain,  "  Thou  never  gavest  me  a  kid,  that  I  might 
make  merry  with  my  friends  ;  but  as  soon  as  this  thy 
son  is  come,  thou  hast  killed  for  Mm  the  fatted 
calf  V  But  I  ought  to  remind  you,  that  this  parable 
was  spoken  particularly  to  the  Jews,  a  nation  who 
had  for  many  ages  considered  themselves  as  God's 
peculiar  people,  and  who  despised  all  other  nations, 
and  avoided  any  communication  with  them 

Henry.  But  they  had  been  God's  people,  had  they 
not? 

Mrs.  B.  Yes,  my  dear,  and  for  tliat  reason  they 
are  alluded  to  in  the  parable  as  the  elder  son.  From 
this  time,  however,  all  nations  were  to  be  placed  upon 
an  equality  ;  the  Gentiles,  (that  is,  all  the  rest  of  the 
world,)  were  to  be  brothers  to  the  Jews,  and  partake 
of  the  mercy  of  the  same  Father  ;  and  it  was  at  once 
to  show  them  this,  and  to  reprove  them  for  their 


92  CONVERSATIO.NS  O.V 

pride  and  contempt  of  the  Gentiles,  that  our  Saviour 
probably  introduced  the  last  part  of  the  parable ; 
though  we  may  also  well  take  it  to  ourselves  as  a 
moral  lesson.  I  hope,  however,  my  loves,  that  I 
need  not  warn  you  against  so  detestable  a  vice  as  this 
of  envy.  1  will,  therefore,  rather  make  you  remark, 
before  we  quit  this  parable,  the  kind  and  gentle  re- 
proof which  the  father  gives  to  his  son.  He  does 
not  upbraid  him  with  the  greatness  of  his  sin ;  he 
leaves  him  to  consider  it  on  cooler  reflection,  and  he 
contents  himself  with  showing  him  how  unreasonable 
was  his  dissatisfaction,  and  how  great  the  blessings 
which  he  himself  enjoyed.  ''  Son,  thou  art  ever  with 
me,  and  all  that  I  have  is  thine."  And  so  says  our 
Father  to  those  who  truly  and  faithfully  serve  him, 
who  remain  ever  in  his  house  :  all  his  mercy,  all  his 
comforts,  all  his  love,  are  ever  with  them.  "He 
dwelleth  in  them,  and  they  in  him."*  Even  here  his 
spirit  is  ever  with  them,  and  hereaftei;  they  shall 
dwell  with  him  for  ever.  But  he  says  to  them  also, 
despise  not  those  who  appear  less  good,  less  religious 
than  yourselves  :  above  all,  rejoice  in  every  amend- 
ment that  you  see  in  them ;  rejoice  when  these,  your 
"younger  brothers,"  come  back  to  their  Father's 
home,  sensible  of  their  folly,  and  seeking  again  his 

•  1  John  iv.  16. 


THE    PARABLES.  93 

protection.  And  believe  me,  my  children,  that  when 
we  so  rejoice  in  the  amendment  of  others  ;  above  all, 
when  we  contribute  to  it,  if  we  can,  we  are  doing 
that  which  God  himself  declares  "  it  is  meet"  that 
we  should  do  :  that,  when  we  ourselves  repent  and 
turn  again  to  God,  we  give  joy  to  the  angels  that  are 
m  heaven  :  and  when  we  lead  a  brother  to  God  and 
to  virtue,  those  blessed  angels  themselves  rejoice  with 
us,  saying,  that  "  this  our  brother  was  dead,  and  is 
alive  again  ;  he  was  lost,  and  is  found."  And  now, 
my  loves,  may  this  parable,  and  all  other  portions  of 
the  holy  word  of  God,  sink  into  your  hearts,  and 
there  brinor  forth  their  blessed  fruit  in  God's  aood 
season  !  May  he  be  with  us,  and  teach  us,  and  guide 
us  to  his  house  of  everlasting  happiness ! 

Mary.  Thank  you,  dear  mamma!  I  am  quite 
sorry  we  have  finished  this  parable,  for  I  have  liked 
it  very  much. 

Henry.  And  so  have  I,  mamma.  I  hope  you  have 
got  some  more  for  us. 

Mrs.  B.  Oh  !  yes,  my  loves,  I  have  several  more 
which  I  can  read  you ;  and  I  am  glad  to  see  that  you 
are  not  tired,  and  that  you  seem  to  understand  so 
much  of  what  I  read.  I  will  select  another  parable 
for  you  by  to-morrow. 


d4 


CONVERSATIONS    ON 


SIXTH  DAY. 


PARABLE    OF    THE    TWO    SERVANTS. 


Matt,  xviii.  23. 

"  You  will  have  seen,  my  dears,"  said  Mrs.  B., 
when  her  children  came  the  following  day,  with 
the  request  that  she  would  read  them  another  para- 
ble, "  that  those  which  we  have  hitherto  read,  relate 
almost  exclusively  to  our  duty  towards  God.  That 
which  I  have  taken  for  this  evening's  reading  pre- 
scribes to  us  one  principal  part  of  our  duty  to  our 
neighbour." 

Mary.  Did  you  not  tell  me  the  other  day,  mamma, 
that  doing  our  duty  to  our  neighbours  was  a  part  of 
our  duty  to  God  .'' 

Mrs.  B.  I  did,  my  dear  Mary;  for  all  duty  is 
duty  to  God,  inasmuch  as  it  is  in  obedience  to  his 
commands ;  and  as  the  motive  of  all  our  actions 
ought  to  be  love  for  him,  and  a  desire  to  please  him. 
But  by  our  duty  to  God,  in  an  especial  manner,  is 
meant  what  is  called  by  Jesus  Christ  "  the  first  and 


THE  PARABLES.  95 

great  commandment,"*  and  in  the  words  of  our 
church  catechism,  "  to  believe  in  him,  to  fear  him, 
and  to  love  him  with  all  our  heart,  with  all  our  mind, 
with  all  our  soul,  with  all  our  strength  :  to  worship 
him,  to  give  him  thanks,  to  put  our  whole  trust  in 
him,  to  call  upon  him,  to  honour  his  holy  name  and 
his  word  ;  and  to  serve  him  truly  all  the  days  of  our 
lives."  I  ought,  perhaps,  rather  to  have  told  you, 
that  the  parables  which  we  have  hitherto  read,  treat 
more  particularly  of  the  conduct  of  God  towards 
man,  in  the  government  of  the  world,  and  of  the 
sentiments  towards  him  which  his  conduct  should 
inspire  in  us.  That  which  I  am  now  going  to  read 
relates  more  immediately  to  the  conduct  which  we 
ought  to  adopt  one  towards  another — to  the  duty  of 
man  to  man.  For  instance,  to  take  our  last  parable, 
upon  which  we  spent  so  much  time,  tell  me,  Mary, 
what  were  the  great  truths  which  were  intended  to 
be  impressed  ? 

Mary.  The  father,  mamma,  was  meant  to  represent 
God,  and  the  parable  was  to  show  the  goodness  of 
God  in  forgiving  all  our  faults,  and  the  way  in  which 
we  ought  to  be  sorry  for  them,  and  to  ask  for  his 
forgiveness. 

Mrs.  B.  We  shall  now  begin  to  follow  this  up, 

*  Matt.  xxii.  38. 


96  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

that  is,  to  reason  upon  it,  and  to  form  a  conclusion 
from  it.  From  the  conduct  of  God  to  ws,  we  must 
learn  what  ought  to  be  the  conduct  of  man  to  7nan. 

Henry.  But,  mamma,  how  can  we  put  man  into 
the  place  of  God  ?  How  can  we  compare  the  two 
cases  ? 

Mi's.  B.  It  is  very  true,  my  dear  Henry,  that  we 
cannot;  but  if  God,  who  is  all-perfect  himself,  is  so 
kind  and  forgiving  to  us,  and  yet  condescends  to 
compare  the  two  cases,  there  is  surely  much  more 
reason  why  ye,  imperfect  as  we  are,  should  show  a 
similar  indulgence,  and  similar  kindness,  towards 
those  who  stand  in  need  of  our  forgiveness.  And 
this  is  the  first  branch  of  our  duty  to  our  neighbour, 
or,  in  other  words,  of  charity. 

Henry.  I  thought,  mamma,  that  charity  meant 
giving  money,  and  clothes,  and  food  to  poor  people, 
v/ho  could  not  buy  them  for  themselves. 

Mrs.  B.  That,  my  dear  Henry,  is  indeed  one 
branch  of  charity ;  but  it  is  a  very  small  portion  of 
what  is  intended  by  the  Christian  virtue  of  charity. 
When  you  are  older,  and  more  able  to  understand 
the  whole  meaning  of  this  first  of  virtues,  you  will 
find,  in  one  of  St.  Paul's  Epistles,  a  full  enumeration 
of  all  its  good  qualities  :  but  it  is  quite  sufficient  for 
our  purpose  to  take  these  two  plain  instructions — the 
one,  "  As  ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do 


THE  PARABLES.  97 

ye  also  to  them  likewise  ;"*  and  the  other,  "  Thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself."  "  This,"  says 
Jesus,  after  naming,  as  J  told  you  before,  the  first  and 
great  commandment,  "  is  the  second,  and  like  unto 
it."t  "  Love,"  says  St.  Paul,  "  is  the  fulhlling  of  the 
law  :";!;  and,  in  short,  the  Christian  religion,  or  our 
dul}''  to  God,  and  our  duty  to  man,  are  composed  of 
these  alone — love  to  God,  and  love  to  man.  If  we 
act  towards  God  as  if  we  loved  him,  we  shall  obey 
him,  we  shall  serve  him,  we  shall  be  anxious  to 
please  him.  If  we  act  towards  men  as  if  we  loved 
them,  we  shall  be  kind,  indulgent,  forgiving,  obliging, 
careful  not  to  ofTend,  and  not  to  be  offended  :  in  a 
word,  (for  we  cannot  go  farther,)  to  do  to  all  men, 
as  we  would  wish  that  they  should  do  to  us. 

Mary.  1  think,  mamma,  that  rule  is  so  plain  that 
it  cannot  be  very  difficult :  because  we  all  know  what 
we  should  wish  that  people  should  do  to  us ;  but  I 
do  not  see  how  we  can  love  our  neighbour  as  our- 
selves. 

Mrs.  B.  The  two  expressions,  my  dear  girl,  come 
nearly  to  the  seme  meaning ;  and  though  you  think 
the  rule  so  plain,  that  it  cannot  be  difficult,  1  am 
afraid  that  you  will  find  that  there  is  no  one  per- 
son who  acts  really  and  completely  up  to  it.     It  is 

*  Luke  vi.  31.       f  Matt.  xxii.  38,  39.      \  Rom.  xiii.  10. 
9 


98  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

very  true,  as  you  say,  that  we  all  know  what  we 
should  wish  that  others  should  do  to  us,  if  we  give 
ourselves  time  honestly  to  consider ;  but  such  is  the 
perverseness  of  our  natural  dispositions,  without 
God's  assistance,  that  we  are  too  apt  to  indulge  in 
our  selfish  feelings,  to  judge  of  our  neighbour's  ac- 
tions in  a  very  different  manner  from  that  in  which 
we  judge  of  our  own ;  to  follow  our  favourite  pur- 
suits, without  thinking  how  they  may  affect  others ; 
or  even  if  we  do  consider,  to  prefer  our  own  imme- 
diate advantage  or  gratification,  notwithstanding  the 
injury  or  inconvenience  which  we  may  thus  cause 
to  them.  All  petulance,  ill-humour,  disobligingness, 
all  hasty  language  of,  or  to,  a  person  ;  all  tale-bear- 
ing, scandal,  ill-natured  ridicule ;  not  to  mention,  of 
course,  the  heavier  offences  of  theft,  fraud,  violence, 
envy  :  all  these  are  breaches  of  the  great  law  of  doing 
to  all  men  as  we  would  they  should  do  unto  us  ;  and 
[  think  you  will  see  now  that  it  requires  constant 
watchfulness  over  ourselves,  to  enable  us  to  perform 
this  duty  even  very  imperfectly. 

Mary.  Yes,  mamma,  I  see  it  is  not  so  easy  as  I 
fancied  ;  because  I  had  not  thought  of  all  those  little 
things ;  but  still  it  seems  much  easier  to  do  to  others  as 
we  would  wish  them  to  do  to  us,  than  to  love  all  our 
neighbours  as  ourselves.  I  can  love  you,  mamma, 
and  papa,  and  my  brother,  very,  very  much;   but 


THE  PARABLES.  99 

how    can  we    love  people  that  we  know  nothing 
about? 

Mrs.  B.  Your  difficulty  is  from  not  understanding 
the  meaning  of  the  expression.  It  is  impossible  you 
should  feel  for  persons  whom  you  do  not  know, 
and  have  nothing  to  do  with,  the  same  natural  affec- 
tion which  you  feel  for  your  relations  and  friends ; 
perhaps  even  them  you  can  hardly  love  as  well  as 
you  do  yourself:  strangers,  you  certainly  cannot; 
but  the  love  of  our  neighbour,  spoken  of  in  the 
Bible,  means  a  general  and  earnest  desire  to  assist 
and  oblige,  and  to  do  good  to  all  men.  If  we  love 
a  person  very  much,  we  are  naturally  anxious  to 
please  him,  to  assist  him  in  difficulties,  to  comfort 
him  in  sorrows,  to  rejoice  in  his  joys,  to  do  any 
thing  that  he  wishes,  to  avoid  all  that  he  dislikes : 
and  this,  so  far  as  is  consistent  with  our  higher  duty 
to  God,  we  should  endeavour  to  do,  where  it  lies  in 
our  power,  to  all  men.  This  is  true  Christian  love, 
which  we  are  enjoined  to  exercise  towards  all ;  pure, 
kind,  peaceable,  obliging,  forbearing,  forgiving,  active, 
unceasing:  and  though  the  degree  in  which  we  are 
to  exercise  it  is  high,  "loving  other  as  ourselves,"  it 
is  no  more  than  "  doing  to  others  as  we  would  they 
should  do  unto  us ;"  placing  ourselves  in  the  situa- 
tion of  others  before  we  act,  and  considering  whether, 
if  we  loved  our  neighbour  as  we  love  ourselves,  we 


100  CONVERSATIOIVS    ON 

should  act  so  and  so.  This  is  the  great  Christian 
doctrine,  "  If  God  so  loved  us,  we  ought  also  to  love 
one  another,"*  and  to  let  our  conduct  towards  all  men 
prove  what  are  our  feelings,  and  our  principles. 

Mary.  Thank  you,  mamma,  I  see  now  what  it 
means,  and  that  it  is  not  so  very  easy.  I  did  not 
understand  it  before.  And  now,  mamma,  may  we 
come  to  our  parable  .'' 

Mrs.  B.  Yes,  my  love,  as  soon  as  you  please. 
You  will  find  the  application  of  it  very  easy,  parti- 
cularly after  what  we  have  been  saying ;  but  it  does 
not  the  less  deserve  our  attention  on  account  of  its 
plainness. 

"  The  kingdom  of  heaven,"  says  our  Saviour,  "  is 
likened  unto  a  certain  king." 

Mary.  I  beg  your  pardon,  mamma,  but  how  is  the 
kingdom,  of  heaven  likened  to  a  king? 

Mrs.  B.  I  am  glad  you  have  asked  the  question, 
my  dear  Mary.  It  is  a  common  beginning  of  the 
parables;  "The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like:"  and  it 
does  not  always  mean,  as  it  does  not  in  this  instance, 
that  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  in  our  common  accep- 
tation of  the  expression,  is  like  this  or  that ;  but  in 
allusion  to  something  which  has  gone  before,  Jesus 
introduces  a  parable  to  illustrate  "  the  dealings  of 
God  towards  mankind,  with  reference  to  their  ulti- 

*  1  John  iv.  11. 


THE    PARABLES.  101 

mate  salvation ;"  and,  I  think,  wherever  the  expression 
is  used,  you  make  take  this  as  the  explanation  of  it. 
In  this  sense  it  is  not  to  be  understood  to  be  com- 
pared to  the  subject  to  which  it  is  immediately  said 
to  be  like ;  but  you  may  transpose  the  whole  sense 
in  this  way.  Instead  of  "  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is 
like,"  &c.,  suppose  the  words,  "  the  dealings  of  God 
towards  mankind  with  reference  to  their  ultimate  sal- 
vation," are  such  as  are  represented  in  the  following 
story.  You  are  then  left  to  compare  the  persons  and 
things  one  with  another,  as  you  find  them  to  apply. 
In  this  way  you  must  take  the  present  parable. 

"The  kingdom  of  heaven,"  then,  "is  likened  unto 
a  certain  king,  which  would  take  account  of  his  ser- 
vants. And  when  he  had  begun  to  reckon,  one  was 
brought  in  unto  him,  which  owed  him  ten  thousand 
talents." 

Henry.  How  much  was  a  talent,  mamma  ? 

Mrs.  B.  A  talent  of  silver,  my  love,  was  equal  to 
£187  105.  of  our  money;  that  is,  the  servant's  debt 
was  equal  to  ^G  1,875,000  sterling.  But  it  is  sufficient 
for  our  purpose  to  know,  that  it  amounted  to  a  sum 
which  the  servant  neither  had  nor  was  likely  to  have 
the  power  of  paying.  The  parable  goes  on,  "  But 
forasmuch  as  he  had  not  to  pay,  his  lord  commanded 
him  to  be  sold,  and  his  wife,  and  children,  and  all 
that  he  had,  and  payment  to  be  made." 
9* 


102  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

Henry.  But  mamma,  how  could  lie  order  the  man 
to  be  sold  ?  or  his  wife  ?  or  his  children  ?  or  who 
would  buy  them  ? 

Mrs.  B.  My  love,  we  ought  to  be  very  thankful, 
that  in  our  country  slavery  is  unknown ;  that  we 
cannot  any  of  us  be  bought  and  sold  as  slaves,  at  the 
pleasure  of  any  master.  But  at  the  time  in  which 
our  Saviour  lived  the  practice  of  slavery  was  univer- 
sal; and  even  now  there  are  countries  where  men 
and  women  are  bought  and  sold  like  horses  or  cat- 
tle ;  and  where,  if  one  person  owes  a  debt  to  another, 
he  will  frequently  sell  one  of  his  servants  in  order  to 
pay  it.  In  reading  the  Bible,  we  ought  always  to  re- 
member this,  and  to  recollect,  that  the  word  servant, 
often  means,  not  as  with  us,  a  person  who  stays  in 
our  service  as  long  as  he  pleases,  and  receives  wages 
while  he  stays ;  but  a  person  whom  his  master  has 
bought,  and  with  whom  he  may  do  what  he  pleases, 
without  being  called  to  account.  And  such  in  effect 
is  our  dependence  upon  Almighty  God.  We  are  his, 
not  by  our  own  voluntary  service  for  money  ;  but  by 
his  creation  and  preservation  of  us  for  his  own  good 
purposes.  Without  him,  we  should  not  have  been  at 
all ;  but,  still  more,  without  him  we  should,  after  this 
life,  have  no  hope  of  being  received  into  life  everlast- 
ing. He  has  indeed  bought  us  with  a  price  ;  and  that 
price  was  the  blood  of  his  son,  our  Saviour  and  Re- 


THE    PARABLES.  103 

deemer,  Jesus  Christ.  To  him,  were  it  for  this  only, 
we  owe  far  more  than  we  can  ever  hope  to  pay ;  but, 
considering  how  every  day,  almost  every  hour,  we 
do  something  to  displease  him,  something  to  increase 
the  enormous  debt  which  we  already  owe,  what 
should  we  do,  were  he  to  demand  his  strict  rights  ? 
to  come  to  account  with  us,  his  "  servants,"  and  to 
command  that  "payment  should  be  made!" 

Mary.  We  could  do  nothing,  mamma,  but  beg  him 
to  forgive  us,  and  to  assist  us  to  do  better  for  the 
future. 

Mrs.  B.  And  this,  my  love,  is  all  that  our  merciful 
Master  requires  of  us  to  do.  "The  servant,"  says 
Jesus,  "  therefore  fell  down,  and  worshipped  him," 
(that  is,  earnestly  entreated  him,)  "  saying.  Lord,  have 
patience  with  me,  and  1  will  pay  thee  all." 

Henry.  But  he  never  could  have  paid  him  all  that 
money,  mamma,  so  he  was  only  making  a  sham  pro- 
mise. 

Mrs.  B.  It  is  true,  my  dear  Henry,  it  was  not 
likely  that  he  ever  should  pay  him  any  considerable 
part  of  the  debt.  But  his  lord  kindly  considered, 
that  the  servant  was  willing  to  do  all  that  he  could ; 
that  he  was  sensible  he  was  at  his  master's  mercy; 
that  he  had  nothing  else  to  rely  on ;  and  that,  so  far 
as  he  could,  he  was  determined  to  devote  all  his 
future  earnings  to  paying  off  this  one  debt.     But 


104  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

what  does  God  do  ?  What  did  the  lord  do  ?  "  Then 
the  lord  of  that  servant  was  moved  with  compassion, 
and  loosed  hira,  and  forgave  him  the  debt." 

Henry.  What,  mamma  !  let  him  off  the  whole  of 
the  million,  and  I  don't  know  how  many  thousand 
pounds,  and  let  him  go  on  just  as  if  he  had  owed 
nothing  at  all  ? 

Mrs.  B.  So  says  the  parable  ! 

Henry.  But  how  very  generous  that  was,  mamma ! 
Do  not  you  think  so  ? 

Mrs.  B.  Jt  was,  certainly,  my  love,  an  act  of 
generosity,  which  the  servant  could  never  repay ;  for 
which  the  services  of  all  his  future  life,  and  those  of 
all  his  family,  would  not  have  been  a  sufficient  re- 
compense, even  if  he  had  been  under  no  former  obli- 
gation to  serve  his  master.  It  saved  him  from  being 
sold,  perhaps  to  a  harsh  and  cruel  master,  separated 
from  wife  and  children,  and  tormented  by  the  thought 
that  his  misconduct  had  brought  upon  th.em  the  same 
hard  fate  as  upon  himself.  And  yei,  my  loves,  this 
or  worse  than  this  cannot  be  compared  to  the  tor- 
ments to  come,  from  which  the  mercy  of  God  alone 
can  save,  and  will  save  those  who  ask  him. 

Mary.  I  don't  think,  mamma,  I  have  very  clear 
notions  of  everlasting  punishment. 

Mrs.  B.  We  can  none  of  us,  my  love,  have  in  our 
present  world  clear  notions  of  the  awful  secrets  which 


THE  PARABLES.  105 

shall  be  revealed.  God,  in  mercy  to  us,  has  hidden 
from  our  eyes  the  knowledge  of  the  precise  nature 
of  the  future  sufferings  of  the  wicked;  yet  he  has 
told  enough  to  make  us  shrink  from  the  idea  with 
awe  and  horror.  Shut  out  from  the  presence  of  God, 
in  outer  darkness,  amidst  weeping  and  gnashing  of 
teeth,  in  everlasting  fire,  prepared  for  the  devil  and 
wicked  and  rebellious  spirits,  wdiere  "  the  worm 
dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is  not  quenched;"  these  are 
some  of  the  expressions  used  concerning  this  awful 
subject  in  Scripture. 

Mary.  Oh !  mamma,  how  very,  very  dreadful ! 

Mrs.  B.  Dreadful  indeed,  my  love  !  What  earthly 
debt,  what  suffering  for  a  few  years  here,  can  be 
compared  with  this  ?  What  was  the  punishment 
Avhich  the  servant  had  incurred,  compared  to  thai 
from  which  the  mercy  of  God  delivers  us  ? 

Henry.  Oh  !  but,  mamma,  this  is  only  for  very, 
very  wicked  people,  is  it .? 

Mrs.  B.  This,  my  love,  is  the  punishment  threat- 
ened to  all  wilful  sin,  all  disobedience  to  God's  com- 
mands ;  and  one  should  think,  that  such  a  punish- 
ment denounced,  would  of  itself  prevent  us  from 
sinning;  and  yet,  as  David  says,  "Who  can  tell  how 
oft  he  ofTendeth  ?"*     Every  day,  every  hour  almost, 

*  Psalm  xix.  12. 


106  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

we  offend  our  God  in  word,  in  thought,  or  in  deed. 
But  he  knoweth  our  infirmities,  and  instead  of  ex- 
acting the  strict  punishment  of  all  our  sins,  he 
accepts  the  atonement  of  his  own  son,  who  died  to 
save  us ;  and,  through  him,  our  sincere  repentance 
and  prayer  for  forgiveness. 

Henry.  But,  if  we  sin  again  and  again,  will  he  for- 
give us  every  time  ? 

Mrs.  B.  Yes,  my  love,  every  time,  if  we  truly  re- 
pent and  are  sorry,  and  endeavour  to  amend.  His 
mercies  "  fail  not !"  but  are  "  new  every  morning."* 
He  does  not  expect  us  to  say,  "  Have  patience  with 
me,  and  I  will  pay  thee  all ;"  for  he  knows  that  we 
are  unable  to  do  so.  He  requires  us  only  to  say, 
"  Father,  I  have  sinned  against  heaven  and  in  thy 
sight;"  and  he  in  mercy  will  ever  answer,  "Thy 
sins  are  forgiven  thee,  go  in  peace."|  And  what,  my 
loves,  should  be  our  return  to  God  for  such  inesti- 
mable mercy  ?  Should  we  not  love  him,  praise  him, 
be  grateful  to  him,  and  endeavour  to  serve  him,  and 
obey  his  commandments  better.^  Should  we  not 
endeavour  to  repay,  at  least,  a  small  part  of  what 
we  owe  ? 

Mary.  But  how  can  we  repay  any  thing,  mamma  ? 

Mrs.  B.  God,  indeed,  my  love,  does  not  stand  in 

*  Lam.  iii.  22,  23.  +  Luke  vii.  48—50. 


THE  PARABLES.  107 

need  of  our  service;  still  less  of  our  forgiveness. 
But  now  comes  the  great  Christian  doctrine.  God 
will  accept,  in  return  for  his  forgiveness  of  us,  our 
forgiveness  of  each  other.  Christ  desires  us  to  pray- 
to  God,  ''  to  forgive  us  our  debts,  as  we  forgive  our 
debtors."  "  For,"  says  he,  "  if  ye  forgive  men  their 
trespasses,  your  heavenly  Father  will  also  forgive 
you  :  but  if  you  forgive  not  men  their  trespasses, 
neither  will  your  Father  forgive  your  trespasses."* 
We  will  examine  this  great  truth  with  the  parable. 
Immediately  after  the  servant  left  his  forgiving  mas- 
ter, "  he  went  out,  and  found  one  of  his  fellow-ser- 
vants, which  owed  him  an  hundred  pence :  and  he 
laid  hands  on  him,  and  took  him  by  the  throat,  say- 
ing, pay  me  that  thou  owest.  And  his  fellow-servant 
fell  down  at  his  feet,  and  besought  him,  saying,  have 
patience  with  me,  and  I  will  pay  thee  all.  And  he 
would  not,  but  went  and  cast  him  into  prison,  till  he 
should  pay  the  debt." 

Henry.  Oh  !  what  a  shame,  mamma !  When  he 
had  just  been  excused  so  much  himself,  to  be  so 
cruel !  He  ought  to  have  been  so  glad  and  so  happy, 
that  he  would  not  have  cared  whether  he  was  paid 
or  not. 

Mrs.  B.   He  ought   to   have  been  so  gratefully 

*  Matt.  vi.  12—15. 


108  CONVERSATIONS    ON 

happy,  as  in  remembrance  of  the  goodness  of  his 
master  towards  him,  to  have  felt  rejoiced  at  having 
an  opportunity  of  showing  the  same  to  his  fellow- 
servant. 

Mary.  And  so  little  as  he  owed  him  too,  mamma- 
only  an  hundred  pence,  when  he  had  been  excused 
so  many  thousand  pounds! 

Mrs.  B.  It  was  certainly  quite  inexcusable,  my 
love,  and  I  am  glad  you  see  it  in  its  proper  light. 
So  it  appeared  also  to  his  fellow-servants.  "  For," 
says  the  parable,  "  when  they  saw  what  was  done, 
they  were  very  soiTy,  and  came  and  told  unto  their 
lord  all  that  was  done."  Now,  without  throwing 
any  blame  upon  the  other  servants,  whose  conduct 
was  very  natural,  we  may  draw  this  lesson,  at  least, 
from  this  part  of  the  parable ;  tliat  while  the  servant 
himself  acted  in  this  cruel  and  hard-hearted  manner, 
all  his  fellow-servants  were  ready  to  see  how  wicked 
his  conduct  was.  The  injustice  of  another  struck 
them  forcibly ;  had  it  been  their  own,  would  it  have 
done  so  equally .''  Are  we  not  all  more  sensible  of 
the  faults  of  others  than  of  our  own  ?  Are  we  not 
more  ready  to  condemn  them,  than  ourselves  .'* 
Against  this  fault,  we  should  pray,  and  exert  our- 
selves, and  endeavour  to  consider  strictly  our  own 
oiTences,  and  more  indulgently  those  of  others. 

Mary.  But,  mamma,  this  was  very  wicked  in  the 


THE  PARABLES.  109 

servant:  and  were  not  the  other  sen'ants  right  to  tell 
their  master  ? 

Mrs.  B.  It  certainly  was  very  wicked,  my  dear 
Mary,  and  I  do  not  say,  that  the  servants  might  not 
have  acted  from  a  strong  sense  of  justice.  I  only 
wish  to  impress  upon  your  minds,  that  we  should  be 
equally  just,  and  not  more  indulgent  to  our  own 
sins ;  but  tell  them  to  our  great  Master,  as  readily, 
nay,  more  so,  than  we  would  those  of  others.  But, 
as  you  said  before,  the  servant's  conduct  was  most 
disgraceful ;  the  debt  to  him  bore  no  comparison  to 
that  which  he  had  been  forgiven  ;  even  if  it  had  been 
paid  to  him,  it  would  have  belonged  to  his  master, 
and  would  have  served  to  pay  a  portion  of  the  debt 
to  him,  so  small  as  not  to  be  worth  mentioning.  Yet 
he  would  listen  to  no  excuse.  His  fellow-servant, 
by  constant  industry,  might  easily  have  repaid  his 
debt.  If  his  creditor  had  had  patience  with  him,  he 
might  have  paid  him  all.  But  the  first  servant  who 
owed  his  master  had  no  such  hope.  The  request 
was  put  in  both  cases  in  the  same  words  :  in  the  first, 
it  could  not  have  been  fulfilled;  in  the  second,  it 
might :  yet  in  the  first,  it  was  accepted  ;  in  the  second, 
it  was  harshly  and  cruelly  refused. 

Henry.  Yes,  mamma,  and  I  should  hope  the  master 
punished  him  well :  I  should  not  care  what  happened 
to  him. 

10 


110  CONVERSATIONS    ON 

Mrs.  B.  Take  care,  my  dear  Henry,  what  you 
say.  Your  opinion  of  his  conduct  may  be  quite 
right ;  but  beware  of  being  too  hasty,  or  too  severe  in 
your  judgment.  But  you  shall  hear  what  the  master 
himself  says.  "Then  his  Lord,  after  that  he  had 
called  him,  said  unto  him,  O  !  thou  wicked  servant, 
I  forgave  thee  all  that  debt,  because  thou  desiredst  me  : 
shouldst  not  thou  also  have  had  compassion  on  thy 
fellow-servant,  even  as  I  had  pity  on  thee  ?  And  his 
Lord  was  wroth,  and  delivered  him  to  the  tormenters, 
till  he  should  pay  all  that  was  due  unto  him." 

Henry.  Well,  mamma,  and  he  was  quite  right ; 
that  is  just  what  he  should  have  done. 

Mrs.  B.  He  was  no  doubt  quite  right,  my  love, 
for  it  was  God  who  did  it ;  and,  according  to  all  our 
notions,  his  justice  was  as  conspicuous  as  the  conduct 
of  the  servant  was  unpardonable.  But  uhat  a  lesson 
does  it  give  to  us !  Who  can  offend  against  us,  so  as 
to  compare  with  our  offences  against  God  ?  If  we  re- 
ceive an  injury,  or  what  we  call  a  just  cause  for  anger, 
from  any  one,  we  think  we  may  fairly  indulge  our 
resentment ;  and  were  God  to  deal  so  with  us,  oh ! 
what  would  become  of  us  ?  Immediately  before  this 
parable  was  given,  Peter,  one  of  the  Apostles,  who, 
like  the  rest,  was  a  Jew,  and  interpreted  every  com- 
mandment of  God  strictly,  and  according  to  the  letter, 
came  to  Jesus,  and  said,  "  Lord,  how  oft  shall  my 


THE   PARABLES.  Ill 

brother  sin  against  me,  and  I  forgive  him  ?  until 
seven  times  ?  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  I  say  not  unto  thee, 
until  seven  times,  but  until  seventy  times  seven,"* 
(that  is  to  say,  to  an  indefinite  number  of  times.) 
He  then  relates  this   parable. 

Mary.  Then,  mamma,  are  we  to  forgive  the  same 
people  over  and  over,  and  over  again  ? 

Mrs.  B.  Does  not  God,  my  love,  forgive  m5  over 
and  over,  and  over  again,  and  to  an  infinitely  greater 
extent  than  we  can  ever  have  it  in  our  power  to 
forgive  others  ?  And  would  not  our  own  consciences 
condemn  us,  did  we  not  forgive  to  the  uttermost  ? 
We  noticed,  just  now,  the  command  given  to  us  by 
our  Saviour  to  pray  that  our  heavenly  Father  will 
forgive  us  our  trespasses,  as  we  forgive  them  that 
trespass  against  us.  And  can  we  expect  that  we  shall 
be  forgiven  the  "  ten  thousand  talents"  which  we  owe 
to  God,  if  we  refuse  to  forgive  the  "  hundred  pence" 
which  our  poor  fellow-creatures  may  happen  to  owe 
us  ?  But  we  are  not  left  to  conjecture  for  ourselves 
upon  this  subject,  for  Jesus  himself  closes  his  para- 
ble with  these  words:  "So  likewise  shall  my 
heavenly  Father  do  also  unto  you,  if  ye  from  your 
hearts  forgive  not  every  one  his  brother  his  tres- 
passes."    Consider  too,  my  dear  children,  what  are 

*  Matt,  xviii.3 1,22. 


112  CONVERSATIONS   ON 

the  "  tormenters"  to  which  we  should  be  delivered, 
were  God  to  insist  on  any  part  of  his  payment; 
consider  how  unspeakable  is  the  difference  between 
what  we  owe  him,  and  what  any  of  us  owe  to  each 
other;  and  we  shall  feel  how  grateful  we  ought  to  be 
for  forgiveness  upon  such  easy  conditions. 

Henry.  But  are  we  quite  sure,  mamma,  that  God 
will  forgive  us,  if  we  forgive  others  ? 

Mrs.  B.  Yes,  my  love,  we  have  his  word,  which 
never  failelh,  to  assure  us  that  he  will,  if  we  from  our 
hearts  forgive  each  other.  Nothing  can  be  plainer 
than  his  declaration  on  this  point :  "  Be  ye  therefore 
merciful,  as  your  Father  also  is  merciful :  judge  not, 
and  ye  shall  not  be  judged :  condemn  not,  and  ye 
shall  not  be  condemned :  forgive^  and  ye  shall  be 
forgiven :  for  with  the  same  measure  that  ye  mete 
withal,  it  shall  be  measured  to  you  again."* 

This,  my  love,  is  one  of  the  great  branches  of 
Christian  charity — mutual  forgiveness,  ^as  God  for 
Jesus  Christ's  sake  forgives  us.  Several  of  the  others 
are  alluded  to  and  recommended  by  other  parables, 
with  which  we  will  go  on  another  day.  For  the 
present  we  have  had  enough.  Indeed,  I  think  our 
readings  grow  longer  and  longer  every  day. 

Mary.   I  am  sure,  mamma,  I  like  them  better  and 

•  Lnke  vi.  36—38. 


THE    PARABLES.  113 

better  every  day.  I  hope  you  have  a  great  many 
more  parables  ready. 

Henry.  And,  mamma,  what  is  the  name  of  the  one 
for  to-morrow  ?  and  what  is  it  about? 

Mrs.  B.  To-morrow,  my  dear  Henry,  we  shall 
take  a  branch  of  charity  more  nearly  approaching  to 
your  first  notion.  The  parable  is  called  "  the  good 
Samaritan." 

Henry.  Well,  mamma,  and  what  is  it  about  ? 

Mrs.  B.  No,  no,  Mr.  Henry,  I  must  not  be  cheated 
into  beginning  to-day ;  you  must  have  patience  till 
to-morrow,  if  you  please,  before  you  hear  about  the 
good  Samaritan. 


10* 


114  CONVERSATIONS  ON 


SEVENTH  DAY. 


PARABLE    OF    THE    GOOD    SAMARITAN, 


LUZE  X.  29. 

"  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself,"  said 
Mrs.  B.,  "  was,  you  remember,  the  second  great 
commandment ;  second  only  to  that  of  "  loving  God 
with  all  our  heart,  and  with  all  our  soul,  and  with  all 
our  strength,  and  with  all  our  mind  ;"*  and  I  think 
you  have  not  forgotten  what  I  told  you  was  meant 
by  this  love  of  our  neighbour. 

Mary.  No,  mamma ;  you  told  us  that  it  was  the 
same  as  Christian  charit}^,  and  that  one  part  of  charity 
was  to  forgive  one  another ;  and  that  you  would  tell 
us  another  part  of  it  to-day,  in  the  story  of  the  good 
Samaritan. 

Mrs.  B.  Very  well,  Mary. — Our  Saviour,  then, 
was  in  conversation  with  a  Jewish  lawyer  upon  this 
subject;  and  he,  "willing,"  as  the  Bible  says,  "to 

•  Luke  X.  27. 


THE  PARABLES.  115 

justify  himself" — that  is,  willing  to  make  out  that 
the  duty  was  very  limited,  and  that  he  should  do  quite 
enough  if  he  behaved  kindly  to  those  who  were 
literally  his  "neighbours,"  his  friends,  or  relations — 
said  unto  Jesus,  "  And  who  is  my  neighbour !" 

Jesus  made  him  no  immediate  answer,  but  began 
a  parable,  at  the  end  of  which  the  lawyer  might  be 
able  to  answer  his  question  himself. 

"  A  certain  man,"  said  he,  "  went  down  from  Jeru- 
salem to  Jericho,  and  fell  among  thieves,  which 
stripped  him  of  his  raiment,  and  wounded  him,  and 
departed,  leaving  him  half  dead.  And  by  chance  there 
came  down  a  certain  priest  that  way ;  and  when  he 
saw  him,  he  passed  by  on  the  other  side." 

Henry.  What !  without  helping  him,  or  doing  any 
thing  for  him,  when  he  saw  him  lying  on  the  road 
half  dead ! 

Mary.  And  a  priest  too,  mamma !  does  not  that 
make  it  worse  ? 

Mrs.  B.  It  makes  his  conduct  certainly  less  ex- 
cusable, because,  being  one  of  those  who  served  God 
in  the  temple,  he  ought  to  have  known  that  God 
"  will  have  mercy  and  not  sacrifice  ;"*  that  is,  that 
God  prefers  the  fulfilment  of  the  great  law  of  human 
kindness,  to  the  most  punctual  obedience  paid  to  the 
ritual  law  of  Moses. 

*  Matt.  Ix.  13. 


116  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

Henry.  What  do  you  mean  by  the  ritual  law  of 
Moses,  mamma  ? 

Mrs.  B.  It  is  too  long  a  question  for  us  to  enter 
into  fully  at  this  time ;  when  you  are  older,  it  will 
be  well  Avorth  your  studying  at  large.  But,  in  a  few 
words,  I  will  try  to  give  you  a  general  idea  of  it, 
though  it  will  rather  interrupt  the  progress  of  our 
parables. 

When  God  had  singled  out  Abraham  from  all  the 
earth,  to  be  the  father  of  a  great  nation,  which  should 
preserve  the  worship  of  the  true  God,  he  appointed 
certain  forms  and  ceremonies,  which  should  repre- 
sent and  be  types  of  spiritual  blessings  afterwards  to 
be  bestowed.  For  example,  the  sacrifice  of  Isaac, 
the  proof  of  Abraham's  faith,  was  a  type,  or  repre- 
sentation, of  the  sacrifice  of  God's  own  Son,  which 
in  time  was  to  take  place  as  an  atonement  for  the 
sins  of  all  the  world.  Peculiar  rites  were  then  and 
afterwards,  especially  under  Moses,  ordained,  which 
for  the  time  served  to  keep  the  Jews  a  distinct  peo- 
ple from  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  but  which  also 
represented  heavenly  and  spiritual  blessings,  which 
should  in  times  to  come  be  revealed,  not  only  to  the 
Jews,  but  to  all  the  world.  The  most  minute  direc- 
tions were  given  by  God  himself  for  the  service  of 
the  temple,  and  the  observance  of  certain  feasts, 
most,  if  not  all  of  which,  though  apparently  insigniti- 


THE    PARABLES.  117 

cant,  were,  I  doubt  not,  intended  to  represent  some 
spiritual  object,  and  thus  serve  as  a  perpetual  memo- 
rial of  God's  everlasting  providence.  The  observance 
of  these  ceremonies,  or  rites,  constituted  what  is 
called  the  ritual  law  of  Moses;  and  as  Moses  him- 
self, the  great  lawgiver  of  the  Old  Testament,  was 
the  type  of  our  blessed  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  the 
great  Lawgiver  of  the  New,  so  the  ritual  law  and 
the  ceremonies  of  the  first  religion,  were  intended  as 
types  of  the  moral  and  spiritual  law,  introduced  by 
the  New  Testament,  the  Christian  dispensation.  I 
do  not  know  whether  you  will  understand  me,  when 
I  say,  that  in  some  degree,  the  old  religion  was  a 
perpetual  parable;  a  succession  of  visible  and  out- 
ward objects,  which  all  had  some  farther  meaning, 
and  were  at  last  explained  when  Jesus  Christ  came 
into  the  world  to  fulfil,  as  he  declared,  the  law  and 
the  prophets. 

Mary.  I  don't  think  I  do  quite  understand  this, 
mamma. 

Mrs.  B.  Perhaps  an  example  will  make  it  more 
clear.  We  have  already  mentioned  the  sacrifice  of 
Isaac,  as  a  type  or  representation  of  the  sacrifice  of 
the  Son  of  God.     You  understand  this.'' 

Mary.  Yes,  mamma. 

Mrs.  B.  You  remember,  also,  that  when  the  child- 
ren of  Israel  were  taken  under  God's  especial  pro- 


]18  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

tection,  ''  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house 
of  bondage,"*  they  were  commanded,  in  celebration 
of  God's  mercy  to  them  in  passing  over  their  houses 
when  he  slew  the  first-born  of  the  Egyptians,  to  kill 
a  lamb  every  year  on  a  particular  day,  and  keep  the 
feast  of  the  Passover. 

Mary.  Yes,  mamma,  but  this  was  to  celebrate 
something  which  was  past. 

Mrs.  B.  Not  altogether,  my  dear,  nor  even  chiefly. 
It  was  to  be  a  type  of  something  which  was  to  come; 
it  was  to  prefigure,  or  represent  beforehand,  the  slay- 
ing of  Jesus  Christ,  "  the  Lamb  of  God,"  who  is 
called  "  our  Passover ;"  and  the  mercy  of  God  upon 
those  for  whom  his  blood  was  shed,  and  who  thank- 
fully acknowledged  and  received  it.  It  was  for  this 
reason,  that  this  and  several  other  observances,  com- 
manded by  Moses,  were  kept  up,  to  prefigure  that 
which  was  of  more  importance,  the  final  accomplish- 
ment of  their  heavenly  meaning;  and  ^yhen  you  are 
able  to  study  and  understand  this  part  of  the  Old 
Testament,  you  will  be  astonished  at  the  wonderful 
number  of  these  types,  and  their  close  resemblance 
to  their  final  objects. 

Mary.  Can  you  tell  us  any  more  of  these  types, 
mamma } 

*  Exod.  XX.  2. 


THE  PARABLES.  119 

Mrs.  B.  I  could  tell  you  many  more,  my  love,  but 
it  would  take  us  too  far  away  from  our  present  sub- 
ject. What  I  want  you  to  understand  is,  that  the 
law,  as  prescribed  by  Moses,  was  only,  as  St.  Paul 
says,  "a  shadow  of  good  things  to  come;"*  and  that 
things  commanded  in  it,  seemingly  quite  indifferent, 
were  really  of  consequence,  as  representing  otliers 
of  a  spiritual  nature. 

Mary.  Yes,  mamma,  I  understand  that  now  a  litde 
better  than  I  did.  But  did  not  the  Jews  understand 
all  this  too  ? 

Mrs.  B.  No,  my  love,  the  Jews  were  in  general 
proud  of  being  the  chosen  people  of  God;  not  reflect- 
ing that  they  were  only  his  instruments  for  keeping 
alive  his  religion,  and  for  proving  the  equity  of  his 
providential  dispensations ;  they  imagined  that  they 
alone  possessed  the  favour  of  God ;  and  that  his  ser- 
vice consisted  wholly  in  an  observance  of  (what  I 
think  you  now  understand)  the  ritual  law  of  Moses  : 
they  avoided  all  intercourse  with  other  nations,  and 
thought  that  even  by  doing  acts  of  kindness  to  them, 
they  should  pollute  their  own  holiness,  as  the  pecu- 
liar people  of  the  God  of  Israel. 

Mary.  And  was  this  the  reason,  mamma,  v/hy  the 
priest  went  by,  and  took  no  notice  of  the  poor  man, 
who  was  lying  wounded  in  the  road  ? 

♦Heb.  X.  1. 


120  COXVERSATIONS  ON 

Mrs.  B.  No,  my  love,  he  had  not  even  this  ex- 
cuse, for  in  all  probability  the  man  was  himself  a 
Jew,  to  whom  this  misfortune  happened.  He  per- 
haps thought  that  the  man  was  already  dead,  in 
which  case  it  would  have  defiled  him  to  have  touched 
him  ;  that  is  to  say,  it  would  have  been  necessary  for 
him,  according  to  the  law  of  Moses,  to  have  per- 
formed certain  ceremonies  of  purification,  before  he 
could  again  have  attended  on  the  service  of  the  tem- 
ple; or  perhaps  he  was  bent  on  business,  and  it 
would  have  been  inconvenient  to  him  to  be  detained ; 
so  that  instead  of  *•'  doing  to"  this  poor  wounded 
man,  ^'  as  he  would  have  wished  to  have  been  done 
by,"  had  he  been  in  such  a  state,  he  contented  him- 
self with  passing  carelessly  by  on  the  other  side. 

Henry.  What  does  it  mean,  mamma,  by  passing  by 
on  the  other  side  ? 

Mrs.  B.  It  probably  means,  that  he  would  not  go 
close  past  him,  but  went  at  some  distance,  pretending 
not  to  see  him ;  thus  adding  to  the  sin  of  inhumanity 
that  of  hypocrisy ;  but  though,  had  any  other  per- 
sons been  near,  they  might  have  been  taken  in  to 
suppose  that  he  really  did  not  see  him,  God  saw  the 
cruelty  and  the  hypocrisy  of  the  whole  proceeding, 
for  "  He  knoweth  the  very  secrets  of  the  heart,"* 

•  Psalm  xliv.  21. 


THE  PARABLES.  121 

and  doubtless,  such  conduct  would  not  escape  his 
anger ;  for,  "•  thy  Father  which  seeth  in  secret,  shall 
reward"  (and  equally  punish)  "  thee  openly."* 

Henry.  And  was  this  poor  man  left  then  in  the 
road  to  die  ? 

Mrs.  B.  The  next  that  came  that  way  was  not  a 
priest,  but  he  was  a  Levite ;  one  of  that  peculiar 
tribe,  from  among  whom  the  priests  were  taken,  and 
who  were  all  especially  dedicated  to  the  service  of 
God.  "  And  likewise  the  Levite,  when  he  was  at  the 
place,  came  and  looked  on  him,  and  passed  by  on  the 
other  side." 

Henry.  What!  the  Levite  too,  mamma!  and  looked 
at  him,  and  saw  how  mnch  he  was  hurt ! 

Mrs.  B.  Yes,  my  dear  boy,  it  is  a  melancholy  in- 
stance of  inattention,  and  want  of  feeling  for  the  suf- 
ferings of  others  which  cannot  be  excused ;  but 
more  especially  among  those  who  have  been  better 
taught  and  instructed,  as  the  Priest  and  the  Levite 
had  been;  or  rather  as  they  would  have  been,  but  for 
the  literal  interpretation  which  they  put  upon  their 
law,  and  their  attention  rather  to  outward  things,  than 
the  inward  law  of  the  heart.  But  let  us  return  to 
the  poor  wounded  man.  "  A  certain  Samaritan," 
says  the  parable,  "as  he  journeyed,  came  where  he 

•  Matt.  vi.  6. 
11 


122  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

was ;  and  when  lie  saw  him,  he  had  compassion  oil 
hhn,  and  went  to  him,  and  bound  up  his  wounds, 
pouring  in  oil  and  wine ;  and  set  him  on  his  own 
beast,  and  brought  him  to  an  inn,  and  took  care  of 
him.  And  on  the  morrow,  when  he  departed,  he 
took  out  two  pence,  and  gave  them  to  the  host,  and 
said.  Take  care  of  him;  and  whatsoever  thou  spendest 
more,  when  I  come  again,  I  will  repay  thee." 

Henry.  Two  pence,  mamma  !  that  was  not  a  great 
deal  of  money  to  leave  with  him ! 

Mrs.  B.  The  Roman  penny,  my  love,  was  a  much 
larger  sum  than  ours,  and  as  the  value  of  money  was 
different  then  from  what  it  is  now,  we  must  not  judge 
of  the  amount  left  with  the  innkeeper,  from  what  it 
sounds  to  us.  Perhaps,  also,  he  might  not  be  able 
at  the  time  to  spare  much  money ;  but  it  is  clear  that 
there  was  no  want  of  generosity,  by  his  parting  re- 
quest, "Take  care  of  him,  and  whatsoever  thou 
spendest  more,  when  I  come  again  I  will  repay  thee." 
But  is  there  nothing  more  in  this  story  than  the 
amount  of  the  money  given  ? 

Henry.  Oh,  yes,  mamma,  it  was  very  kind  of  the 
Samaritan  to  take  such  care  of  the  poor  man,  and 
attend  to  him  :  but  only  two  pence  sounded  so  odd, 
I  could  not  help  saying  so. 

Mrs.  B.  It  would  have  been  very  kind  in  any  one, 
under  any  circumstances :  but  let  us  look  to  those  of 


THE  PARABLES.  123 

this  case,  and  see  if  there  was  any  thing  remarkable 
in  them.     In  the  first  place,  he  was  a  Samaritan. 

Henry.  Who  were  the  Samaritans,  mamma  ? 

Mrs.  B.  They  were  the  inhabitants  of  Samaria, 
whose  origin  was  partly  Jewish  and  partly  heathen; 
who  worshipped  the  true  God,  and  acknowledged 
the  authority  of  Moses,  but  who  did  not  conform  to 
the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  Jews,  nor  come  up 
to  worship  at  Jerusalem.  For  these  reasons  the  Jews 
hated  them  more  than  nations  altogether  heathen. 
"They  had  no  dealings  with  the  Samaritans."* 
When  they  wished  to  reproach  our  Saviour  bitterly, 
they  told  him,  "  He  was  a  Samaritan,  and  had  a 
devil  ;"|  and  they  considered  it  an  abomination  even 
to  speak  to  one  of  them.  The  Samaritan,  therefore, 
if  he  had  been  disposed  to  return  evil  for  evil,  might 
have  rejoiced  in  seeing  one  of  his  enemies  in  so 
wretched  a  state ;  at  all  events,  he  might  have  acted 
upon  the  Jewish  maxim,  of  "  Love  your  friends  and 
hate  your  enemies."  He  might  have  "  passed  by  on 
the  other  side,"  and  left  him  to  die,  as  his  own  coun- 
trymen, the  Priest  and  the  Levite,  had  done.  But 
this  good  Samaritan  was  w-orthy  of  being  a  Chris- 
tian ;  for  he  held,  and  acted  upon  the  principle  of 
"loving  his  enemies  and  doing  good  to  those  that 

*  John  iv.  9.  -J-  John  \iii.  48. 


124  CONVERSATIOXS    ON 

hated  liim.'*'*  He  had  compassion  on  him,  and  seeing 
his  distress,  did  all  he  could  to  relieve  it. 

Mary.  And  had  the  poor  wounded  man  hated  the 
Samaritans  before,  mamma  ? 

Mrs.  B.  No  doubt  he  had  despised  and  avoided 
them,  in  compliance  with  the  common  habits  of  his 
nation. 

Mary.  How  ashamed  he  must  have  been  afterwards, 
when  he  found  who  it  w^as  that  had  assisted  him,  and 
how  his  own  countrymen  had  left  him  to  die! 

Mrs.  B.  We  should  hope  he  was,  my  love,  and 
more  than  ashamed ;  that  through  GoiVs  grace  he 
was  able  to  conquer  his  unworthy  prejudices,  and  be 
more  ready  to  receive  the  great  truth,  afterwards 
preached  by  the  Apostles,  that  "  God  is  no  respecter 
of  persons  ;  but  in  every  nation,  he  that  feareth  him, 
and  worketh  righteousness,  is  accepted  with  him."! 
But  see  if  there  is  any  other  particular  circumstance 
in  the  conduct  of  this  Samaritan.  This  happened 
"as  he  journeyed;"  he  was  really  upon  business; 
we  see  he  could  not  stay  above  one  night  at  the  inn; 
he  might  have  pleaded,  that  to  stop  and  assist  this 
poor  wounded  Jew  would  put  him  to  great  inconve- 
nience ;  that  the  Jew  was  in  his  own  country,  among 
his  immediate  "  neighbours,"  who  would,  doubtless, 

*  Matt.  V.  44.  f  Acts  x.  34 ,  35. 


THE   PARABLES. 


125 


take  care  of  him ;  while  he  himself  was  not  only  in 
a  strange  country,  without  friends  or  means  of  doing 
good,  but  among  those  who  scorned  and  hated  both 
him  and  his  nation.  But  of  all  this  he  thought  not, 
he  thought  not  of  what  a  Jew,  under  such  circum- 
stances, would  have  done  to  him,  but  of  what  he 
should  have  wished  him  to  do^  and  he  acted  accord- 
ingly. And  "  verily  he  had  his  reward"  in  the  sight 
of  God,  if  not  of  man. 

Mary.  Mamma,  you  make  me  quite  love  this  good 
Samaritan. 

Mrs.  B.  I  would  wish  you  to  love  his  character, 
so  as  to  imitate  it  where  you  have  the  power.  But 
we  will  just  finish  the  story,  for  you  will  remember, 
that  it  was  told  by  Jesus  Christ  to  a  Jewish  lawyer. 

Henry.  I  should  like  to  know  what  he  had  to  say 
for  the  Jews. 

Mrs.  B.  Jesus  continued :  "  Which  now  of  these 
tliree,  thinkest  thou,  was  neighbour  unto  him  that 
fell  among  the  thieves  .>  And  he  said.  He  that  showed 
mercy  on  him." 

Henry.  Come,  I  am  glad  he  owned  that  at  least. 

Mrs.  B.  "  Then  said  Jesus  unto  him.  Go,  and  do 
thou  likewise." 

And  now,  my  loves,  what  does  Jesus  say  to  us  ? 
How  are  we  to  read  and  profit  by  this  his  holy  word  .'* 
Tell  me,  my  dear  Mary,  what  are  the  great  lessons 
11* 


126  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

which  we  are  to  learn  m  this  branch  of  Christian 
charity  ? 

Mary.  That  we  are  to  consider  all  men  as  our 
neighbours,  mamma,  and  do  good  to  them  whenever 
we  can. 

Mrs.  B.  Very  well.     What  next  ? 

Mary.  I  do  not  know,  mamma,  unless  that  we  are 
not  to  mind  whether  they  are  our  enemies  or  not. 

Mrs.  B.  Right  again ;  that  is,  we  are  not  to  con- 
sider whether  they  have  injured  or  wronged  us,  (for 
a  Christian  should  have  no  enemies,)  whether  they 
are  likely  to  be  ungrateful  or  grateful,  whether  they 
will  ever  have  the  means  of  returning  our  kindness, 
or  will  return  it  with  injury  and  insult:  for  we  look 
for  our  exceeding  "  great  reward"*  from  our  Father 
in  heaven.  But  still  more,  the  Samaritan  did  this 
great  kindness,  at  a  time  particularly  inconvenient  to 
himself;  is  there  no  lesson  to  be  learnt  from  this  .'* 

Mary.  Yes,  mamma ;  that  we  should  not  only  do 
good  when  it  gives  us  no  trouble,  but  even  when  it 
is  very  disagreeable  to  us. 

Mrs.  B.  Disagreeable  is  not  a  word  to  be  applied 
to  doing  good.  But  we  are  taught  to  do  good  to  all 
men,  at  all  times,  under  all  circumstances,  even  M'here 
it  may  require  a  sacrifice  of  our  own  wishes,  inclina- 

*  Gen.  XV.  1. 


THE    PARABLES.  127 

tions,  or  time,  or  any  thing  else  which  we  should 
have  liked  to  have  disposed  of  otherwise.  One  more 
lesson  I  will  point  out  to  you,  from  the  conduct  of 
the  priest.  He  passed  on  the  other  side,  pretending 
not  to  see  the  wounded  man.  Do  you  understand 
any  thing  which  may  be  drawn  from  this  ? 

Mary.  1  do  not  think  I  do  very  particularly. 

Mrs.  B.  Does  it  not  imply  this,  that  God  will  not 
excuse  us  if  we  look  carelessly  upon,  or  shut  our 
eyes  to  the  distress  of  others }  That  rather  than  pass 
by,  or  not  inquire  into  a  case  which  may  come  before 
us,  we  should  go  out  of  our  way  to  inquire,  to  seek 
out,  to  learn  where  we  can  be  useful ;  where  we  can 
prove,  by  our  kindness  to  our  distressed  neighbours, 
our  sense  of  God's  infinite  goodness  to  us.  And  this 
is  a  fault,  my  loves,  which  we  are  too  apt  to  fall  into, 
more  especially  the  rich,  and  those  who  have  no 
cares  and  anxieties  for  their  own  support  and  bodily 
comforts. 

Mary.  I  hope,  mamma,  if  ever  we  are  rich,  we 
shall  remember  this  parable,  and  all  that  you  have 
told  us  about  it. 

Mrs.  B.  My  love,  you  must  recollect,  that  it  is 
not  necessary  to  be  rich,  in  order  to  show  in  the 
sight  of  God  a  kind  and  charitable  spirit.  He  who 
well  employed  his  five  talents,  attained  the  favour  of 
his  master  equally  with  him  who  well  employed  his 


128  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

ten :  the  good  dispositions  may  equally  be  shown 
with  small  means  as  with  great.  But  whether  you 
should  be  rich  or  poor,  I  trust  you  will  remember 
and  study,  not  only  this  parable,  but  all  the  word  of 
God,  that  it  may  dwell  in  your  hearts  and  minds ; 
and  that  by  God's  Holy  Spirit  assisting  you,  you 
may  "  come  behind  in  no  good  gift ;"  but  be  "  not 
hearers  only,  but  doers  of  the  word."*  And  that 
every  holy  precept  and  example  may  incite  you,  and 
God  give  you  grace  to  "  go  and  do  likewise." 

*  James  i.  22. 


THE  PARABLES.  129 


EIGHTH  DAY. 


PARABLE  OF  THE  RICH  MAN  AND  LAZARUS. 


Luke.  xvi.  19 

Mrs.  B.  Just  before  v/e  finished  yesterday,  we 
were  talking  of  what  were  the  duties,  especially  of 
the  rich,  in  seeking  out,  rather  than  waiting  to  be 
told,  and  even  than  listening  carelessly  to  the  afflic- 
tions of  their  fellow-creatures.  This  will  bring  us 
to-day  to  another  part  of  that  extensive  virtue  of 
Christian  charity,  which  goes  most  commonly  by 
that  name,  that  of  relieving  the  bodily  distresses  of 
others. 

Henry.  You  mean,  giving  money  to  poor  people, 
don't  you,  mamma  ? 

Mrs.  B.  I  mean  not  giving  money  only,  but  food, 
clothing,  medical  assistance,  and  all  those  comforts 
which  the  rich  can  always  procure,  but  of  which  the 
poor  often  stand  in  need,  and  with  which  it  is  more 
especially  the  duty  of  the  rich  to  furnish  those  who 
are  in  want. 


130  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

Henry.  Yes,  mamma,  I  believe  I  meant  all  that, 
when  I  said  money — 1  meant  what  people  call 
"giving  charity."  And  now  will  you  tell  us  the 
parable  ? 

Mrs.  B.  Yes,  my  love,  but  before  I  do  so,  I  must 
tell  you  that  it  was  spoken  more  particularly  to  the 
Pharisees ;  "  who,"  the  Evangelist  says,  "  were 
covetous,  and  derided  him,"  on  account  of  his  po- 
verty and  humility.  But  Jesus,  desirous  to  show 
them  that  all  the  advantages  of  this  world,  on  which 
thfy  prided  themselves,  such  as  wealth,  learning, 
rank,  and  "all  that  is  highly-esteemed  among  men," 
so  far  from  being  important  towards  a  man's  eternal 
welfare,  increase  his  punishment;  and  are,  in  his 
own  words,  "abomination  in  the  sight  of  God,"  if 
a  man  make  not  a  right  use  of  them ;  related  to  them 
the  parable  which  we  are  now  going  to  read,  of  the 
rich  man  and  Lazarus. 

"There  was  a  certain  rich  man,  which  was  clothed 
in  purple,  and  fine  linen,  and  fared  sumptuously  every 
day." 

Henry.  Why  does  it  say,  "clothed  in  purple," 
mamma  ?  Was  there  any  thing  particular  in  that  ? 

Mrs.  B.  Purple,  my  dear  Henry,  was  considered 
among  the  ancients  as  the  most  beautiful  and  valuable 
colour ;  and  the  city  of  Tyre,  which  was  at  no  very 
great  distance  from  Jerusalem,  was  particularly  cele- 


THE    PARABLES.  131 

brated,  and  owed  a  great  part  of  its  wealth  to  the  art 
of  dymg  cloth  of  this  colour.  It  was  very  expensive, 
and  was  the  colour  always  worn  by  emperors,  kings, 
and  great  men,  upon  great  occasions ;  so  that  in  this 
place,  it  means  generally,  very  rich  and  expensive 
clothes. 

Mary.  But,  mamma,  is  there  any  harm  in  wearing 
fine  clothes,  and  having  great  dinners,  and  a  great 
many  people  and  servants,  which  is  the  meaning  of 
faring  sumptuously,  is  it  not  ? 

Mrs.  B.  No,  my  love,  no  harm  at  all,  provided 
that  the  heart  is  not  allowed  to  attach  itself  too  much 
to  these  luxuries  and  extravagances;  and  that  we  do 
not  lay  out  thoughtlessly  upon  them  the  money 
which  ought  to  be  spent  in  better  objects,  in  relieving 
distress,  and  assisting  our  neighbours.  We  shall 
soon  see  how  the  case  stood  with  this  rich  man. 
The  parable  continues  : 

"And  there  was  a  certain  beggar,  named  Lazarus, 
which  was  laid  at  his  gate,  full  of  sores,  and  desiring 
to  be  fed  with  the  crumbs  which  fell  from  the  rich 
man's  table;  moreover,  the  dogs  came  and  licked  his 
sores.     And  it  came  to  pass,  that  the  beggar  died" — 

Mary.  What,  mamma,  while  he  was  laid  at  the 
gate  of  this  rich  man,  who  would  not  help  him,  or 
do  any  thing  for  him  ? 

Mrs.  B.   It  does  not  say  expressly  that  he  died  in 


132  COXVERSATIONS    ON 

that  very  spot,  though  such  a  circumstance  might 
well  be  supposed  to  increase  the  guilt  of  this  rich 
man,  (for  you  will  remember  this  is  an  imaginary 
story ;)  but  at  all  events,  it  is  plain  that  the  rich  man 
gave  him  no  assistance,  and  even  refused  the  humble 
request  which  the  poor  Lazarus  made  to  him.  And 
as  we  have  stopped  to  consider  the  case,  let  us  con- 
sider it  fully.  The  parable  says,  "  There  was  a  cer- 
tain beggar,  named  Lazarus,  laid  at  his  gate,  full  of 
sores,  and  desiring  to  be  fed  with  the  crumbs  which 
fell  from  the  rich  man's  table  :  moreover,  the  dogs 
came  and  licked  his  sores."  What  a  complication 
of  circumstances  of  distress  and  wretchedness  !  What 
misery  on  the  one  hand,  and  what  selfish  luxury  on 
the  other  ?  While  the  rich  man  was  feasting  and 
rejoicing,  making  a  selfish  and  uncharitable  use  of 
the  good  things  of  this  world,  which  God  had  given 
him ;  one  of  his  fellow-creatures,  one  of  his  brethren, 
his  equal  in  the  sight  of  that  God,  who  "  is  no  re- 
specter of  persons ;"  was  at  his  very  door  in  hunger 
and  thirst,  in  sickness  and  nakedness,  and  making  so 
humble  a  request  as  "  to  be  fed  with  the  crumbs  which 
fell  from  the  rich  m.an's  table."  He  asked  for  no- 
thing which  would  be  a  sacrifice  to  the  other;  he 
begged  only  for  the  overflowings  of  that  abundance 
with  which  God  had  blessed  him,  but  which  he  had 
made  a  curse,  and  not  a  blessing !     And  in  this  state 


THE  PARABLES.  133 

was  his  request  attended  to  ?  No.  Food,  assistance, 
shelter,  were  denied  him,  and  he  was  left  in  this 
pitiable  state,  at  the  rich  man's  gate,  exposed  to  an- 
noyance even  from  the  very  brutes  :  "  the  dogs  came 
and  licked  his  sores," 

Mary.  Poor  man !  how  he  must  have  wished  to 
die  at  once! 

Mrs.  B.  Death,  my  love,  had  evidently,  from  what 
we  hear  afterwards,  no  terrors  for  him  ;  it  released 
him  from  his  bodily  sufferings,  and  yet  more,  it  took 
him  to  that  heavenly  kingdom,  "  where  (to  use  the 
beautiful  words  of  the  Revelation,)  they  which  came 
out  of  great  tribulation,  and  have  washed  their  robes, 
and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb ;" 
(that  is,  who  are  sanctified  and  saved  by  the  sacriiice 
of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Lamb  of  God;)  "are  before  the 
throne  of  God,  and  serve  him  day  and  night  in  his 
temple ;  and  he  that  sitteth  on  the  throne  shall  dw^ell 
among  them.  They  shall  hunger  no  more,  neither 
thirst  any  more  ;  neither  shall  the  sun  light  on  them ; 
nor  any  heat.  For  the  Lamb  which  is  in  the  midst 
of  the  throne  shall  feed  them,  and  shall  lead  them 
unto  living  fountains  of  waters;  and  God  shall  wipe 
away  all  tears  from  all  eyes."*  To  this  blessed  state, 
to  the  presence  of  God  himself,  was  the  poor  beggar 

•  Rev.  vii.  14—17. 
12 


134  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

taken — according  to  the  parable,'''  the  beggar  died, and 
was  carried  by  the  angels  into  Abraham's  bosom." 

Henry.  Why  does  it  say  Abraham's  bosom,  mam- 
ma? 

Mrs.  B.  Abraham,  my  love,  was,  as  you  know,  the 
father  of  all  the  Jewish  nation,  and  was,  of  course, 
regarded  by  them  with  the  highest  veneration.  He 
was  a  holy  and  righteous  man,  and  is  even  termed 
''  the  friend  of  God."*  The  expression,  ''  being 
carried  to  Abraham's  bosom,"  is  of  course  fignrative, 
and  is  taken  from  the  ancient  custom  of  lying  down 
at  meals,  instead  of  sitting,  as  we  do,  so  that  the 
head  of  one  person  came  nearly  to  the  breast  of  an- 
other— as  St.  John  is  described  in  the  last  Supper  of 
our  Lord,  as  "  leaning  on  Jesus'  bosom.''|  This 
was  of  course  a  mark  of  intimacy  and  friendship, 
and  in  the  present  parable  may  be  taken  to  mean, 
that  in  heaven,  whither  he  was  carried  by  the  angels, 
he  was  admitted  to  the  love  and  affectjon  of  those 
holy  and  good  men,  who  having  faithful  1}^  served 
their  Lord  here,  had  "  entered  into  his  joy"  in  an- 
other world. 

It  is  time  to  look  now  to  the  parable,  and  to  the 
case  of  the  rich  man.  He  also,  says  the  Bible,  "  died 
and  was  buried."     And  here  for  a  moment  let  us 

*  James  ii.  33.  ■\  John  xiii.  23. 


THE   PARABLES.  135 

stop,  and  consider  this  awful  change.  A  few  days 
before,  he  was  in  the  enjoyment  (if  his  life  could  be 
enjoyment)  of  all  that  the  world  could  give  him — a 
splendid  house,  abundance  of  servants,  wealth  to 
gratify  all  his  fancies,  richly  clothed,  sumptuously 
fed,  with  every  luxury  at  his  command  ;  while  poor 
Lazarus,  at  his  gate,  covered  with  sores,  and  pining 
with  hunger  and  disease,  vainly  begged  for  the 
crumbs  which  fell  from  his  table, — Now  the  same 
Lazarus  '•  hungers  and  thirsts  no  more" — "  God  has 
wiped  away  all  tears  from  his  eyes ;"  and,  in  his 
presence,  with  the  holy  and  just  men  of  all  ages, 
now  made  perfect,  he  enjoys  eternal  and  unmixed 
happiness.  "  The  rich  man  died  and  was  buried  ;" 
perhaps  a  pompous  funeral  was  the  last  mark  of 
distinction  between  the  bodies  of  these  two  men, 
which  equally  went  to  that  dust  of  which  both  were 
alike  formed.  But  what  was  the  condition  of  the 
souls,  their  immortal  part. 

Henri).  I  should  be  afraid,  mamma,  that  the  rich 
man  was  not  carried  by  the  angels  to  Abraham's 
bosom. 

Mrs.  B.  The  parable  does  not  leave  us  in  doubt : 
the  awful  continuation  is — "  And  in  hell  he  lifted  up 
his  eyes,  being  in  torments;  and  seeth  Abraham  afar 
off,  and  Lazarus  in  his  bosom." 

How  much  of  tremendous  retribution,  what  cir- 


136  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

cumstances  of  increased  misery  are  there  in  these 
few  words.  In  hell !  In  that  eternal  punishment, 
"  where  their  worm  shall  not  die,  neither  shall  their 
fire  be  quenched  :"*  suffering  excruciating  torments, 
and  conscious  that  he  had  brought  them  upon  him- 
self— permitted  to  see  the  glories  of  heaven,  and  tlie 
happiness  of  the  just,  but  to  see  them  ''  afar  off,"" — 
to  know  that  he  was  for  ever  excluded  from  joining 
them ;  while  he  beheld  exalted  far  above  his  own 
head,  in  the  midst  of  that  blessed  company,  the  poor 
beggar  Lazarus,  whom  he  had  spurned  and  despised 
in  the  self-sufficiency  of  his  worldly  pride. 

Mary.  1  am  quite  sorry  for  him,  mamma,  though 
he  did  deserve  it :  but  how  he  must  have  repented 
now  of  his  former  conduct!  How  he  must  have 
wished  he  had  used  his  money  better ! 

Mrs.  B.  My  love,  it  is  a  dreadful  thought,  but  I 
fear  it  is  one  which  is  too  clearl}'  declared  by  reve- 
lation for  us  to  doubt,  that  in  hell  there  is  no  hope 
and  no  repentance !  None  of  that  "  repentance  unto 
salvation"  which  "  sorroweth  wiih  a  godly  sorrow."t 
The  means  of  such  repentance  are  among  the  num- 
ber of  those  precious  talents  committed  to  us  here, 
which,  if  now  neglected,  are  for  ever  lost.  In  the 
future  world,  our  fate  is  fixed  beyond  the  possibility 

*  Isa.  Ixvi.  24 ;  Mark  ix.  44.  +2  Cor.  vii.  8,  10. 


THE  PARABLES.  137 

of  a  change ;  the  doom  is  gone  forth,  and  repentance 
then  can  only  be  an  idle  repining  over  the  past,  ex- 
torted by  the  bitter  fruit  of  hopeless  torments.  But 
hear  what  the  rich  man's  expressions  are — whether 
they  point  at  any  holy  feeling,  or  whether  they  are 
not  such  as  1  have  described. 

"  And  he  cried,  and  said.  Father  Abraham,  have 
mercy  on  me,  and  send  Lazarus,  that  he  may  dip  the 
tip  of  his  finger  in  water,  and  cool  my  tongue,  for  1 
am  tormented  in  this  flame." 

Here,  you  see,  is  nothing  but  a  cry  of  pain  and 
anguish,  and  an  entreaty  that  it  may  be  lightened. 

Henry.  I  think,  mamma,  he  had  no  right  to  expect 
that  Lazarus  would  do  any  thing  for  him,  considering 
how  he  had  treated  him  while  they  were  alive. 

Mrs.  B.  He  seems  to  have  considered  Lazarus 
as  still  in  the  same  servile  state  in  which  he  had 
formerly  known  him ;  and  to  have  forgotten  that  the 
grave  does  away  with  all  distinctions,  except  those 
of  superior  goodness  and  piety.  But  we  may  well 
imagine  that  it  was  an  aggravation  of  his  punishment, 
that  he  had  now  to  solicit,  that  the  same  Lazarus,  on 
whom  he  had  refused  to  bestow  so  much  as  a  morsel 
of  bread,  should  be  sent  to  give  him  even  a  moment's 
relief;  even  to  "dip  the  tip  of  his  finger  in  water, 
and  cool  his  tongue." 

12* 


138  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

Henry.  Well,  mamma,  and  what  did  Abraham  say 
to  him  ? 

Mrs.  B.  You  shall  hear.  "  But  Abraham  said, 
Son,  remember  that  thou  in  thy  lifetime  receivedst 
thy  good  things,  and  likewise  Lazarus  evil  things ; 
but  now  he  is  comforted,  and  thou  art  tormented. 
And  beside  all  this,  between  us  and  you  there  is  a 
great  gulf  fixed;  so  that  they  which  would  pass 
from  hence  to  you  cannot;  neither  can  they  pass  to 
us,  that  would  come  from  thence." 

Henry.  I  should  think  that  none  of  the  people 
who  were  in  heaven  would  have  any  wish  to  pass 
over  the  gulf. 

Mrs.  B,  Not  certainly  to  change  their  place  of 
happiness  for  that  awful  state  of  eternal  misery.  But 
among  those  blessed  spirits  there  might  have  been 
some  willing  even  to  expose  themselves  to  those 
horrors,  to  relieve  and  soften  the  sufferings  of  the 
unhappy  beings,  whom  their  own  crimes  had  brought 
there.  Lazarus,  forgiving  the  ill-treatment  which  he 
had  received  on  earth,  might  have  been  willing,  if 
allowed,  to  alleviate  the  misery  of  his  former  enemy. 
But  this,  God,  who,  though  a  God"  of  mercy,  is  one 
of  justice  also,  forbids.  And  what  a  reflection  is 
this,  that  our  conduct  here,  for  a  very  few  years,  must 
decide  our  future  fate  for  all  eternity ! — for  duration 
which  we  cannot  conceive ;  but  compared  to  which. 


THE   PARABLES. 


139 


all  the  ages  that  this  world  has  lasted  since  the  crea- 
tion, are  but  as  a  single  moment ! 

Mary.  I  wanted  to  ask  you  one  question,  mamma. 
You  read  just  now  that  Abraham  told  the  rich  man 
that  he  had  had  his  good  things  in  this  world,  and 
Lazarus  his  evil  things ;  and  that  therefore  Lazarus 
was  comforted,  and  he  tormented.  Surely  it  does 
not  mean  that  all  who  have  been  happy  here  will  be 
miserable  afterwards,  and  all  who  have  been  miserable 
here  will  be  happy  there  ? 

Mrs.  B.  Most  assuredly  not,  my  love :  for  that 
would  be  punishing  or  rewarding  men  for  that  over 
which  they  had  no  control,  which  would  be  evidently 
unjust.  It  is  not  upon  our  condition  here,  but  upon 
the  use  we  make  of  that  condition,  that  our  future 
fate  depends.  It  is  true  that  the  rich  are  exposed  to 
many  temptations  from  which  the  poor  are  exempt — 
to  the  "cares,  and  the  pleasures  of  this  world,  and 
the  deceitfulness  of  riches."  It  is  even  true  that  our 
Saviour  himself  exclaims,  "  How  hardly  shall  they 
that  have  riches  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  I"* 
But  the  poor  have  their  temptations  and  their  trials 
also ;  and  a  proper  and  charitable  use  of  wealth,  en- 
joying, but  not  abusing  "  the  good  things  of  this 
life,"  is  as  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  God,  as  a  patient 

*  Mark  x.  23. 


140  CONVERSATIONS    ON 

and  Christian  resignation  under  those  calamities  and 
deprivations,  with  which,  for  his  own  wise  purposes, 
he  thinks  fit  to  visit  some  of  his  creatures.  The  rich 
man  in  the  parable  was  not  condemned  because  he 
had  been  rich,  but  because  he  had  misused  his  riches  : 
Lazarus  was  not  comforted  because  he  had  been  poor 
and  miserable,  but  because  in  all  his  sufferings  he 
looked  with  patience  and  piety  to  God,  and  with 
charitable  forgiveness  to  those  who  showed  a  want 
of  charity  to  him.     Do  you  understand  this  ? 

Henry.  Oh !  yes,  mamma,  quite — but  still,  I  am 
very  glad  that  you  and  papa  are  not  very  rich,  if  it  is 
so  hard  for  a  rich  person  to  be  good. 

Mrs.  B.  My  dear  boy,  in  comparison  with  very 
many  people  in  the  world,  we  are  rich ;  we  have 
always  a  comfortable  house,  good  food,  good  clothes, 
the  means  of  giving  something  to  our  poorer  neigh- 
bours :  we  are  not  obliged  to  labour  from  morning 
till  night  for  our  subsistence ;  but  have  leisure  to  in- 
struct you  in  all  your  duty,  and  give  you  a  good 
education.  We  have  health,  and  strength,  and  a  va- 
riety of  worldly  blessings  for  which  to  be  grateful : 
but  I  will  own  to  you,  I  am  thankful  to  God  who 
has  placed  us  in  this  situation,  rather  than  expose  us  to 
the  temptations  and  the  heavy  responsibility. of  a  very 
large  fortune.  At  the  same  time,  we  may  be  quite  sure 
that  he  who  uses,  as  a  faithful  steward,  the  portion 


THE    PARABLES.  141 

of  goods  vvliich  God  has  given  him  here,  be  it  large 
or  small,  will  not  be  puiiislied  hereafter,  because  he 
has  gratefully  enjoyed  the  worldly  blessings  which 
have  been  placed  within  his  reach. 

Mary.  No,  mamma,  I  thought  it  could  not  mean 
that,  but  I  was  not  quite  sure.  I  quite  understand  it 
now — and  wall  you  go  on  with  the  parable  ? 

Mrs,  B.  Yes,  my  love.  After  receiving  this  answer 
from  Abraham,  the  poor  victim,  in  his  torments, 
thinks  of  the  w^-etched  state  of  those  with  whom  he 
had  been  connected  on  earth ;  and  his  next  request 
is  for  them.  Then,  he  said,  "  I  pray  thee  therefore, 
father,  that  thou  wouldest  send  him  to  my  father's 
house :  for  I  have  five  brethren  :  that  he  ma}'  testify 
unto  them,  lest  they  also  come  into  this  place  of 
torment." 

Mary.  Well,  mamma,  but  that  was  good  of  him  at 
least,  was  it  not  ? 

Mrs.  B.  It  seems  to  have  been  an  intimation,  that 
in  the  future  world  our  natural  feelings  and  affections 
will  not  be  broken  off;  and  that  even  some  good  and 
kind  sentiments  may  remain  among  those  who  are 
themselves  for  ever  lost :  Milton,  the  finest  of  our 
poets,  whose  writings  1  hope  you  will  some  day  read 
and  admire,  says — 

"  For  neither  do  the  spirits  damn'd 
Lose  all  their  virtue" — 


142 


COiVVERSATIOXS  ON 


•md  this  is  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God.  But  in 
this  request  of  the  rich  man,  there  might  be  also  the 
tormenting  thought,  that  he  had  himself  been  the 
means,  by  his  example,  and  his  life,  of  leading  his 
brothers  into  careless,  irreligious,  uncharitable  habits, 
and  thereby  to  the  eternal  ruin  of  their  souls  :  and 
this  might  well  explain  the  anxiety  which  he  felt  to 
reclaim  them  even  by  a  miracle. 

Henry.  But  I  hope,  mamma,  Abraham,  let  Lazarus 
go  for  this  at  least. 

Mrs.  B.  You  shall  hear.  "  Abraham  saith  unto 
him.  They  have  Moses  and  the  prophets  :  let  them 
hear  them." 

Henry.  Yes,  mamma,  but  so  had  every  body  else: 
but  that  is  very  different  from  a  person  who  had  been 
dead,  coming  back  to  tell  them. 

Mrs.  B.  But  what  right  had  the  brothers  of  this 
man  to  be  reclaimed  by  a  miracle  ^  What  ground 
had  they  for  expecting  that  God  would,  for  them, 
depart  so  widely  from  his  ordinary  course,  as  to  al- 
low a  messenger  to  come  to  them  from  the  dead  ? 
You  say  very  truly,  that  every  body  else,  that  is,  all 
the  Jews,  "had  Moses  and  the  prophets;"  and  these 
were  sufficient  guides  to  some,  and,  therefore,  might 
have  been  sufficient  for  others,  who  chose  to  reject 
them.  The  rich  man,  however,  thought  with  you. 
and   still   persevered    in   his    request.      "  And   he 


THE   PARABLES.  l43 

said,  Nay,  Father  Abraham ;  but  if  one  went  nnto 
them  from  the  dead,  they  will  repent."  But  what  is 
the  answer  ?  "  And  he  said  unto  him.  If  they  hear 
not  Moses  and  the  prophets,  neither  will  they  be 
persuaded,  though  one  rose  from  the  dead." 

Henry.  Oh !  mamma,  but  1  cannot  think  that. 
Only  fancy,  how  terrible  it  would  be  to  have  a  per- 
son, who  had  been  dead,  come  back  to  tell  you,  that 
if  you  did  not  behave  better,  you  would  be  pu- 
nished for  ever  and  ever !  Surely,  one  must  be  good 
after  that. 

Mrs.  B.  Remember,  my  dear  Henry,  who  it  is  that 
makes  this  declaration  which  is  put  into  the  mouth 
of  Abraham,  that  it  is  the  Son  of  God,  God  himself, 
who  cannot  deceive,  nor  be  deceived,  and  who  knows 
the  heart  of  man  far  better  than  we  can  know  it  our- 
selves :  and  if,  in  what  he  declares,  there  is  any  thing 
that  seems  strange,  or  even  incredible  to  us,  we  should 
satisfy  ourselves,  not  that  he  is  mistaken,  for  that 
he  cannot  be,  but  that  we  are  weak  and  ignorant. 
It  is  true,  that  a  sudden  miracle,  or  any  unusual  event, 
might  cause  serious  thoughts,  even  in  the  most  hard- 
ened sinner.  But  God  knows  best  how  long  those 
thoughts  may  last,  and  he  can  work  repentance  in 
us,  by  the  slightest,  as  well  as  by  the  most  powerful 
causes.  Not  to  repeat  again  the  argument  of  the 
unreasonableness   of  expecting   such  a   miraculous 


144  CONVERSATIOIVS    OIV 

interference  in  favour  of  one  person,  and  not  of  alL 
But  tell  me,  are  there  no  wicked,  or  thoughtless,  or 
irreligious  people  in  the  world  at  present  ? 

Henry.  Oh  !  yes,  mamma,  a  great  many  ;  but  not 
any  who  have  seen  a  person  come  from  the  dead  to 
warn  them. 

Mrs.  B.  Not  who  have  seen  such  a  thing,  1  grant 
you,  but  who  have  known  it,  many  hundreds  and 
thousands. 

Henry.   How,  mamma  ?  1  do  not  understand  you. 

Mrs.  B.  No  !  do  we  not  know  as  certainly  as  any 
thing  can  be  known,  that  Jesus  Christ  himself  came 
down  on  earth,  died  for  our  sins,  rose  again  from  the 
dead.,  and  preached  to  us  and  to  all  the  world,  re- 
pentance, faith  in  him,  and  amendment  of  life  r 

Mary.  Oh !  yes,  mamma,  I  wonder  we  did  not 
think  of  that  at  once,  but  then  that  was  not  like  a 
common  man  being  made  alive  again. 

Mrs.  B.  It  certainly  was  not ;  but  the  miracle  was 
as  great,  and  as  astonishing;  those  who  saw  it  could 
not  have  been  deceived,  and  we  have  their  undoubted 
testimony  to  the  truth  of  the  miracle.  We  know  the 
reality  of  it  as  much  as  if  we  had  seen  it  with  our 
own  eyes,  and  yet,  though  "  One  has  risen  from  the 
dead,"  how  many  are  there  who  are  careless  of  his 
warning,  disregard  his  commandments,  think  lightly 
of  his  threats,  and  his  promises !  He  it  is  who  speaks 


THE  PARABLES.  145 

to  IIS  and  to  all  the  world,  in  this  very  parable  which 
we  have  now  been  reading ;  he  it  is  who  says,  "  Ye 
have  Moses  and  the  prophets  :  hear  ye  them."  And 
of  him  again,  it  is  said  to  us,  "  This  is  my  beloved 
Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased :  hear  ye  him."* 
How  much  more  call  for  our  obedience,  how  much 
more  reason  for  our  love  and  gratitude  !  "  There 
fore,"  says  St.  Paul,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
"  We  ought  to  give  the  more  earnest  heed  to  the  things 
which  we  have  heard,  lest  at  any  time  we  should  let 
them  slip.  For  if  the  word  spoken  by  angels  was 
steadfast,"  (that  is,  if  the  word  of  God  which  he  sent 
by  the  prophets,  his  messengers,  proved  true,  and  his 
promises,  and  his  threatenings  came  to  pass,  as  the 
Jews  knew  they  had  done,)  "  and  every  transgression 
and  disobedience  received  a  just  recompense  of  re- 
ward :  how  shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect  so  great 
salvation  :  which  at  the  first  began  to  be  spoken  by 
the  Lord,  and  was  confirmed  unto  us  by  them  that 
heard  him  ?"| 

Henry.  Mamma,  is  it  not  very  odd,  that  there 
should  be  any  people  who  live  wickedly,  when  they 
have  been  told  by  Jesus  Christ  himself,  what  will 
happen  to  them  afterwards  ? 

Mrs-  B,  It  is  indeed  strange,  my  love,  and  sad  to 

*  Matt  xvii.  5.  f  Heb.  ii.  1—3. 

13 


146  CONVERSATIONS    ON 

think,  how  far  too  little  we  any  of  us  reflect  upon 
the  promises  and  the  word  of  God :  and  still  more 
sad,  how  many  persons  live  in  utter  disregard  of  him ; 
or,  to  use  the  Scripture  expression,  "  Live  without 
God  in  the  world  ;"  but  of  these  I  pray  God  that  my 
dear  children  may  never  be  ;  but  that  whether  rich  or 
poor  in  this  world's  goods,  they  may  remember  from 
whom  their  riches,  or  their  poverty  proceed,  and  lay  ^ 
up  for  themselves  treasure  in  heaven,  which  shall 
never  be  taken  from  them. 

Henry.  I  hope  so  too,  mamma,  and  I  am  sure,  if 
ever  [  am  rich,  I  will  try  to  be  very  good,  and  very 
charitable  to  all  the  poor  people.  But  what  became 
of  the   five   brothers,   mamma,  after  all  ? 

Mrs.  B.  My  love,  the  parable  ends  here,  for  you 
will  remember,  that  it  is  not  a  real  story  told  to 
amuse  curiositj'-,  but  a  moral  lesson  given  in  an 
imaginary  relation  of  circumstances ;  and  this  end 
being  answered,  it  was  needless  to  go  farther.  But 
to  show  you  still  more  strongly,  how  dear  in  the 
sight  of  God  is  this  branch  of  that  inestimable  virtue 
of  charity,  I  will  read  to  you,  before  we  close,  the 
description  which  he  gives,  who  only  could  give  it, 
Jesus  Christ,  of  the  last  day,  when  he  shall  come  to 
judge  all  the  world,  rich  and  poor  alike.  "  When 
the  Son  of  man,"  says  our  Lord,  "  shall  come  in  his 
glory,  and  all  the  holy  angels  with  him,  then  shall 


THE  PARABLES.  147 

he  sit  upon  the  throne  of  his  glory  :  and  before  him 
shall  be  gathered  all  nations  ;  and  he  shall  separate 
them  one  from  another,  as  a  shepherd  divideth  his 
sheep  from  the  goats.  And  he  shall  set  the  sheep 
on  his  right  hand,  but  the  goats  on  the  left.  Then 
shall  the  king  say  unto  them  on  his  right  hand,  come 
ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  pre- 
pared for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world. 
For  I  was  an  hungered,  and  ye  gave  me  meat :  I  was 
thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  drink :  I  was  a  stranger,  and 
ye  took  me  in  :  naked,  and  ye  clothed  me  :  I  was  sick, 
and  ye  visited  me  :  1  was  in  prison,  and  ye  came  unto 
me.  Then  shall  the  righteous  answer  him,  saying, 
Lord,  when  saw  we  thee  an  hungered,  and  fed  thee  ? 
or  thirsty,  and  gave  thee  drink.?  When  saw  we 
thee  a  stranger,  and  took  thee  in  }  or  naked,  and  clothed 
thee  ?  or  when  saw  we  thee  sick  or  in  prison,  and 
came  unto  thee }  And  the  King  shall  answer,  and 
say  unto  them.  Verily  I  say  unto  you.  Inasmuch  as 
ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my 
brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me.  Then  shall  he 
say  also  unto  them  on  the  left  hand,  depart  from  me, 
ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire,  prepared  for  the  devil 
and  his  angels  :  for  I  was  an  hungered,  and  ye  gave 
me  no  meat:  I  was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  no  drink  : 
I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  not  in :  naked,  and 
ye  clothed  me  not;  sick  and  in  prison,  and  ye  visited 


148  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

me  not.  Then  shall  they  also  answer  him,  saying, 
Lord,  when  saw  we  thee  an  hungered,  or  athirst,  or 
a  stranger,  or  naked,  or  sick,  or  in  prison,  and  did 
not  minister  unto  thee  ?  Then  shall  he  answer  them, 
saying.  Verily,  I  say  unto  you.  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it 
not  to  one  of  the  least  of  these,  ye  did  it  not  to  me. 
And  these  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punishment, 
but  the  righteous  into  life  eternal."* 

Mary.  Thank  you,  dear  mamma,  that  is  very  beau- 
tiful indeed;  but  there  is  one  thing  that  I  want  to 
ask  you :  If  none  can  be  rewarded  but  those  that 
feed,  and  clothe,  and  visit  the  poor  and  naked,  what 
is  to  become  of  the  poor  themselves  ?  for  they  cannot 
afford  it. 

Mrs.  B.  My  love,  God  will  not  require  of  any 
that  which  they  cannot  do ;  we  shall  be  judged  ac- 
cording to  that  which  we  have,  and  not  according  to 
that  which  we  have  not.  But  there  are  few,  if  any, 
who  have  not  some  means  of  relieving,^  or  assisting, 
or  showing  kindness  to  others ;  what  God  requires 
is,  that  we  should  show  mercy,  remembering  his 
mercy  to  us ;  and  if  we  give  in  this  spirit,  our  gifts, 
however  small,  will  be  accepted  by  him.  He  has 
even  told  us  himself,  that  "  Whosoever  shall  give  a 
cup  of  cold  water  to  drink,  in  his  name,  verily  he 

*  Matt.  XXV.  31-46. 


THE  PARABLES.  149 

shall  in  no  wise  lose  his  reward."*  But  we  must 
put  off  any  further  discussion  till  another  day,  for  it 
is  already  late,  and  we  must  not  enter  upon  any 
fresh  subject. 

*  Matt.  X.  42,  and  Mark  ix.  41. 


13* 


150  CONVERSATIONS  ON 


NINTH  DAY. 


1»ARABLE  OF  THE   PHARISEE   AND  THE  PUBLICAN. 


Luke  xviii.  9. 

Mrs.  B.  Well,  Henry,  what  is  it  that  has  given 
you  that  very  triumphant  look  to-day  ? 

Henry.  Oh!  mamma,  I  think  we  have  made  a 
good  use  of  your  parables ;  I  think  Mary  and  I  have 
been  like  the  good  Samaritan,  and  I  think  I  know 
somebody  that  has  been  like  the  rich  man  that  you 
told  us  of  yesterday. 

Mrs.  B.  It  always  gives  me  pleasure  to  hear  that 
you  have  acted  rightly;  but  why  should  you  be  glad 
that  you  have  seen  somebody  act  in  a  very  unworthy 
and  unchristian  manner  ? 

Henry.  No,  mamma,  it  is  not  that  that  I  am  glad 
of,  but  only  ....  only  .... 

Mrs.  B.  Well,  my  love,  let  me  hear  the  case,  and 
then  I  shall  be  a  better  judge. 

Henry.  Why,  mamma,  as  we  were  walking  just 


THE  PARABLES. 


151 


outside  the  gate,  we  saw  a  very  poor,  very  wretched 
looking  old  man 

Mary.  No,  Henry,  he  was  not  an  old  man. 

Henry.  Well,  but  he  was  very  poor,  was  not  he, 
Mary  ?  And  so,  mamma,  there  was  a  gentleman 
coming  on  horseback,  and  the  poor  man  began  to 
beg  of  him — and  the  gentleman  did  not  give  him  any 
thing,  but  said,  he  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  begging, 
when  he  might  work ;  and  so,  mamma,  when  the 
gentleman  said  so,  as  soon  as  he  was  gone  by,  I 
went  up  and  said,  "  Here,  poor  man,  if  that  gentleman 
won't  give  you  any  thing,  I  will" — and  so  I  gave  him 
the  new  half-crown  that  grandmamma  gave  me,  and 
Mary  gave  him  a  shilling,  which  was  all  she  had. 
But  why  do  you  look  so  grave,  mamma  ?  Did  not 
we  do  a  great  deal  better  than  the  gentleman  ? 

Mrs.  B.  1  am  afraid,  my  dear  Henry,  you  have  a 
very  poor  notion  of  the  conduct  of  the  good  Samari- 
tan, when  you  think  that  you  were  like  him ;  and 
that  you  have  a  still  poorer  of  another  essential  part 
of  Christian  charity,  that  of  judging  favourably  of 
the  conduct  of  your  neighbours, 

Henry.  Why,  mamma,  I  thought  the  gentleman 
was  like  the  priest  and  the  Levite,  that  you  said 
passed  by  without  attending  to  the  poor  man ;  and 
so  1  was  determined  to  show  that  I  was  better  than 
they  were,  and  like  the  good  Samaritan  who  helped 
the  poor  man  when  he  was  in  distress. 


152  CONVERSATIONS    ON 

Mrs.  B.  And  do  you  think,  my  dear  Henry,  that 
the  wish  of  the  Samaritan  was  to  show  that  he  was 
better  tlian  the  priest  or  the  Levite  ? 

Henry.  No,  mamma,  not  exactly  to  show  that  he 
was  better,  but  I  think  he  must  have  felt  very  happy 
that  he  had  behaved  so  much  better  than  they  had. 

Mrs.  B.  I  do  not  doubt,  my  love,  supposing  it  to 
be  a  real  history,  that  he  would  have  been  glad  that 
he  had  behaved  so  well ;  but  I  am  sorry  you  should 
think  he  would  be  glad  that  he  had  behaved  better 
than  others.  But  as  you  do,  let  me  ask  you  a  ques- 
tion or  two.  In  the  first  place,  whom  are  you  most 
anxious  to  please } 

Henry.  You,  mamma,  and  papa. 

Mrs.  B.  On  earth,  my  dear  boy,  I  hope  you  are ; 
but  remember  you  have  a  heavenly  Parent,  whom 
you  should  be  still  more  anxious  to  please. 

Henry.  Oh  !  yes,  mamma,  I  did  not  think  of  your 
meaning  that. 

Mrs.  B.  And  what  does  he  say  ?  Does  he  pro- 
mise to  reward  those  who  act  better  than  others .'' 

Henry.  Yes,  mamma. 

Mrs.  B.  Does  he  ? — He  promises  to  reward,  with 
eternal  life,  those  who  labour,  by  his  grace  assisting 
them,  to  obey  his  word,  whether  they  are  more  or 
fewer;  but  he  never  promises  to  choose  a  certain 
number  of  the  best  people  in  the  world,  and  to  reject 
the  rest. 


THE  PARABLES. 


153 


Henry.  No,  mamma  ;  but  if  we  are  the  best  people 
in  the  world,  God  will  reward  us  rather  than  others, 
will  he  not  ? 

Mrs.  B.  My  love,  God  measures  our  reward  by 
our  faith  in  his  Son,  and  our  obedience  to  his  word ; 
and  not  by  our  superiority  or  inferiority  to  others. 
We  are  judged  by  our  own  conduct,  and  not  by  that 
of  any  one  else.  We  gain  nothing  by  their  miscon- 
duct, and  at  the  last  day  it  will  avail  us  nothing  to 
plead  that  there  have  been  others  worse  than  our- 
selves. 

Henry.  No,  mamma,  J  suppose  not. 

Mrs,  B.  Then,  my  love,  I  must  ask  you  to  answer 
honestly,  what  was  your  motive  in  giving  money  to 
this  poor  man  ?  Was  it  from  an  earnest  desire  to 
serve  God,  by  doing  good  to  one  of  his  creatures ; 
or  was  it  from  a  wish  to  show  yourself  in  a  more 
favourable  point  of  view  than  the  gentleman  whom 
you  mention  .''  Was  it  because  the  poor  man  wanted 
money,  or  because  the  rich  man  did  not  give  it? 

Henry  (after  a  pause.)  Why,  mamma,  I  think  it 
was  partly  both.  I  think  I  should  have  thought  that 
the  poor  man  wanted  it ;  but,  perhaps,  I  should  not 
have  thought  it  so  much,  if  the  gentleman  had  given 
it  him — and  then  I  thought,  now  I  will  show  that  I 
am  good,  and  that  he  is  not.  I  believe  it  was  so, 
mamma. 


154  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

Mrs.  B.  I  believe  so  too,  my  dear  boy,  and  I  am 
glad  that  you  have  the  honesty  to  own  it,  now  that 
I  have  led  you  to  look  to  your  motives ;  and  now  I 
think  that  you  can  go  on  with  the  inquiry  for  your- 
self. Do  you  think  that  your  conduct  to  this  beggar 
at  all  resembled  that  of  the  good  Samaritan  ? 

Henry.  No,  mamma,  1  am  afraid  not.  I  am  afraid 
I  thought  only  of  the  good  we  had  done  to  the  poor 
man,  and  not  why  we  gave  him  our  money.  But 
you  are  not  angry  with  us  for  giving  him  the  money, 
mamma,  are  you  ? 

Mrs.  B.  I  am  not  angry  with  you  certainly,  and  I 
am  pleased  to  see  that  you  are  so  ready  to  admit 
your  fault ;  but  I  think  it  highly  probable  that  you 
did  a  foolish  thing  in  giving  money  at  all  to  this 
poor  beggar,  certainly  in  giving  so  large  a  sum  to 
one  person,  without  knowing  whether  he  were  de- 
serving or  not. 

Henry.  But  ought  we  not  to  give  mpney  to  beg- 
gars at  all,  mamma  ? 

Mrs.  B.  I  do  not  say  that,  my  dear  boy,  but  it  is 
as  much  our  duty  not  to  give  to  the  idle  and  wicked, 
as  it  is  to  assist  the  industrious,  and  to  relieve  the 
sick  and  the  infirm.  By  your  account  the  gentleman 
told  him  that  he  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  begging  in- 
stead of  working;  and  it  is  extremely  probable  that 
he  knew  tke  man's  character,  and  that  he  could  pro- 


THE    PARABLES.  155 

cure  employment,  but  preferred  idleness.  I  do  not 
know  that  this  v/as  the  case ;  but  if  it  was,  the  gen- 
tleman was  the  really  charitable  person,  by  refusing 
to  encourage  idleness  in  giving  away,  as  you  did,  a 
sum  to  one  beggar,  which  an  industrious  labourer 
could  scarcely  earn  by  two  days'  hard  work.  This 
mode  of  giving  is  not  charity,  but  extravagance;  and 
you  will  have  deprived  yourself  of  the  pleasure  of 
relieving  more  than  one  really  deserving  person,  by 
giving  to  one  who  very  possibly  was  not  so. 

Henry.  But,  mamma,  if  the  gentleman  did  not 
know  that  this  beggar  was  idle,  surely  he  ought  not 
to  have  refused  him,  or  scolded  him  ? 

Mrs.  B.  Certainly  not,  my  love;  but  as  certainly, 
unless  you  know  to  the  contrary,  you  are  bound  to 
believe  that  his  refusal  proceeded  from  a  good  motive, 
and  not  from  a  bad  one ;  that  he  would  gladly  have 
relieved  a  person  in  real  distress,  but  would  not  be 
duped  by,  and  encourage,  an  impostor.  And  in  be- 
lieving this,  you  exercise  towards  this  gentleman  an- 
other very  important  branch  of  that  extensive  virtue, 
Christian  charity. 

Henry.  Charity  to  the  gendeman,  mamma!  I  do 
not  know  how  you  mean. 

Mrs.  B.  There  are  two  points  in  the  description 
of  charity  given  by  St.  Paul,  in  the  passage  I  have 
before  alluded  to,  which  we  may  apply  to  our  pre- 


156  CONVERSATIONS    ON 

sent  case;  as  relating  to  the  judgments  which  we 
form  of  our  oicn  actions,  and  of  those  of  others.  For 
the  first :  "  Charity,"  he  says,  "  vaunteth  not  itself, 
is  not  puffed  up."*  Or,  in  the  words  of  the  Psalms, 
"  setteth  not  by  herself,  but  is  lowly  in  her  own 
eyes."|  And  for  the  second,  she  "  thinketh  no 
evil."J  A  most  comprehensive  expression,  and  a 
point  in  which  this  Christian  virtue  may  be  most 
strongly  shown,  and  perpetually  exercised,  in  putting 
upon  the  actions  of  our  neighbours  the  fairest  and 
most  favourable  construction — not  hastily  judging  or 
condemning  them,  not  believing  that  they  act  from 
improper  motives,  but  the  contrary,  if  possible ;  and 
leaving  judgment  to  that  great  Searcher  of  all  things, 
"  to  whom  all  hearts  are  open,  and  from  whom  no 
secrets  are  hid."  The  Scriptures  with  more  than 
common  earnestness  insist  upon  the  necessity  of 
both  these  exercises  of  charity.  "  Be  kindly  affec- 
tioned,"  says  St.  Paul,  ''one  towards  another  with 
brotherly  love,  in  honour  preferring  one  another  ;"§ 
and  again  in  the  same  chapter,  "  Be  not  wise  in  your 
own  conceits."||  "Judge  not,"  says  Jesus  himself, 
"that  ye  be  not  judged ;"!!  and  to  the  Pharisees, 
"  who  trusted  in  themselves  that  they  were  righteous, 

♦  1  Cor.  xiii.  4.         -j-  Psalm  xv.  4.  ^r  1  Cor.  xiii.  5, 

§  Rom.  xii.  10.  ||  Rom.  xii.  16.  f  Matt.  vii.  1. 


THE    PARABLES.  157 

and  despised  (that  is,  were  ready  to  condemn  and 
think  ill  of)  others"*  without  sufficient  cause,  he 
spoke  a  parable,  wliich  I  think,  under  all  circum- 
stances, we  may  as  well  take  for  our  reading  of  to- 
day. It  is  not  a  very  long  one,  and  our  conversation 
has  already  encroached  a  little  on  our  usual  time. 
"Two  men,"  said  our  Saviour,  "went  up  into  the 
temple  to  pray ;  the  one  a  Pharisee,  and  the  other  a 
publican." 

Mary.  I  do  not  think,  mamma,  that  I  know  what 
a  publican  was  among  the  Jews  ;  I  know  that  it  was 
not  what  it  means  with  us. 

Mrs.  B.  The  Publicans  were  those  persons  who, 
when  the  Jewish  nation  became  tributary  (that  is, 
had  to  pay  taxes)  to  the  Romans,  by  whom  they  had 
been  conquered,  had  the  charge  of  collecting  ihem, 
and  paying  them  over  to  their  foreign  masters. 
Among  the  Jews  it  was  considered  highly  disgrace- 
ful to  have  any  thing  to  do  with  persons  of  another 
nation  ;  and  accordingly  the  publicans,  or  tax-gather- 
ers, who  filled  so  odious  an  office,  were  held  in  great 
contempt  and  abhorrence  by  the  rest  of  the  Jews. 
It  is  very  possible,  indeed,  that  from  the  general  con- 
tempt which  was  entertained  for  this  office,  it  was 
often  in  the  hands  of  persons  of  low  condition  and 

*  Luke  xxiii.  9. 

14 


158  CONVERSATIOXS  OX 

indifferent  character,  as  few  others  could  be  induced 
to  take  it.  But  no  doubt  there  were,  even  among  the 
publicans,  many  honest  and  good  persons. 

Mary.  Mamma,  I  think  I  remember  that  Jesus  was 
reproached  for  living  with  publicans  and  sinners,  and 
I  now  see  why  they  were  put  together. 

Mrs.  B.  Yes,  my  love,  you  are  quite  right ;  and 
it  is  very  possible  that  the  publican,  about  whom  we 
are  about  to  read,  was  (as  indeed  which  of  us  is  not  ?) 
a  sinner.  Be  that  as  it  may,  he  was  a  repentant  sin- 
ner, for  he  was  come  into  the  temple  to  pray.  So, 
indeed,  was  the  Pharisee.  Both  were  in  the  imme- 
diate presence  of  an  all-seeing  God,  who  knew  all 
their  actions,  thoughts,  and  dispositions ;  but  who 
judged  of  them  not  as  men  judged.  "  The  Pharisee 
stood  and  prayed  thus  with  himself,  God,  I  thank 
thee  that  I  am  not  as  other  men  are.  extortioners, 
unjust,  adulterers,  or  even  as  this  publican  ?" 

Henry.  But  how  did  he  know,  mamma,  Avhat  the 
publican  was  ? 

Mrs.  B.  I  am  glad  to  see  you  can  reason  so  accu- 
rately, and  see  how  absurd,  and  how  worse  than  ab- 
surd, it  is  for  one  of  us  to  pretend  to  judge  of  the 
merits  and  feelings  of  another.  I  only  wish  you 
were  always  as  ready  to  act  upon  this  knowledge, 
and  not  to  condemn  others  too  hastily  in  cases  where 
you  probably  know  little  or  nothing. 


THE   PARABLES.  159 

Henry.  Oh,  niamma,  I  hope  you  are  not  angry  with 
me ;  I  see  that  I  was  very  wrong  about  that  gentle- 
man this  morning,  but  I  hope  you  do  not  think  me 
like  the  Pharisee,  who  made  such  a  beginning  to  his 
prayers. 

Mrs.  B.  No,  my  dear  little  boy,  I  am  not  angry 
with  you,  and  as  I  told  you  just  now,  I  am  very 
glad  to  see  that  you  can  own  that  you  have  been 
■wrong.  I  hope  that  your  prayers  to  God  will 
be  very  unlike  those  of  the  Pharisee,  and  that,  in- 
stead of  thanking  God  that  you  are  better  than  others, 
you  will  pray  to  him  to  be  made  day  by  day  better 
than  you  are ;  and  that  all  your  neighbours  (that  is, 
all  men  in  the  world)  may  be  made  better  also,  by 
the  aid  of  his  Holy  Spirit.  And  now,  my  love, 
we  will  go  on  with  the  parable,  and  say  no  more 
about  the  gentleman  and  the  beggar,  for  I  think  you 
will  remember  what  we  have  said,  and  not  be  so 
hasty  and  uncharitable  in  your  opinion  another  time. 
■  We  left  off,  you  remember,  where  the  Pharisee 
thanks  God,  that  he  is  not  like  his  poor  humble 
neighbour.  His  prayer  goes  on  :  "  I  fast  twice  in  the 
week,  I  give  tithes  of  all  that  I  possess." 

Mary  But,  mamma,  he  did  not  call  that  a  prayer, 
did  he  ? 

Mrs.  B.  Certainly,  my  love,  it  was  very  unlike 
what  a  prayer  ought  to  be,  a  confession  of  our  own 


160  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

unworthiness,  thanks  for  God's  unmerited  goodness, 
and  an  humble  petition  that  he  would  continue  his 
mercy  to  us.  On  the  contrary,  this  proud  Piiarisee, 
while  he  affects,  indeed,  to  thank  God,  in  reality  only 
boasts  of  his  own  imagined  virtues,  or  rather  not  of 
his  virtues,  but  of  his  freedom  from  the  faults  of 
others.  And  when  he  comes  to  speak  of  his  own 
merits,  what  are  they  }  "  I  fast,"  says  he,  "  twice  in 
the  week,  I  give  tithes  of  all  that  I  possess."  I  ma- 
nage, that  is,  to  comply  with  the  outward  ordinances 
of  the  religion  which  I  have  learnt,  and  to  perform 
carefully  those  ceremonial  observances  by  which  I 
can  make  a  fair  show  before  men.  But  he  forgot  that 
he  was  then  addressing  himself  to  that  God  "  who 
seeth  not  as  man  seeth"* — "Who  trieth  the  heart 
and  the  reins,"|  that  is,  the  inward  affections,  the 
motives,  the  sincerity  of  our  conduct;  he  forgot  that 
in  the  sight  of  that  God  all  are  sinners  alike — that 
the  difference  between  the  best  and  worst  of  men 
(supposing  that  he  had  been  the  one,  and  his  poor 
neighbour  the  other)  is  as  nothing  compared  with  the 
infinite  distance  between  the  best  of  men  and  the 
divine  perfections  of  that  eternal  God.  But  let  us  go 
on  to  the  contrast — let  us  hear  now  the  publican. 
"  He,"  says  the  parable,  "  standing  afar  off,  would 

*  Job.  X.  4.  t  Psalm  vii.  9. 


THE  PARABLES.  161 

not  lift  up  so  much  as  his  eyes  unto  heaven,  but 
smote  upon  his  breast,  saying,  God  be  merciful  to 
me,  a  sinner."  "  Which  of  these  two,"  as  Jesus 
said  on  another  occasion,  "did  the  will  of  his 
Father."* 

Mary.  I  should  think  the  publican,  mamma,  for 
he  really  did  pray ;  he  prayed  to  God  to  be  merciful 
to  him. 

Airs.  B.  And  how  did  he  pray  ? — "  standing  afar 
ofT:"  that  is,  not  daring  to  approach  what  was  con- 
sidered more  peculiarly  the  holy  part  of  the  temple, 
to  which  the  proud  Pharisee,  not  questioning  his  right, 
nor  examining  Jiis  merits,  had  boldly  gone ;  "  not 
lifting  up  so  much  as  his  eyes  unto  heaven;"  but 
with  humbled  and  penitent  looks,  with  downcast 
eyes,  and  a  contrite  heart,  smiting  upon  his  breast,  in 
sign  of  his  wickedness  and  of  his  sorrow,  he  made 
his  prayer  to  God,  "  who  despiseth  not  the  sighing 
of  a  contrite  heart,  nor  the  desire  of  such  as  be  sor- 
rowful." 

And  now,  what  was  his  prayer  .>  It  was  short,  but 
it  was  comprehensive  :  not  only  "  God  be  merciful  to 
me,"  but  "God  be  merciful  to  me,  a  sinner."  As  if 
he  had  said,  "  I  am  a  sinful  man,  oh  Lord.f  I  ac- 
knowledge my  trangressions,  and  my  sin  is  ever  be- 

*  Matt.  xxi.  31.  f  Luke  v.  8. 

14* 


162  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

fore  me."*  I  have  no  claims  upon  thy  goodness,  and 
if  thy  justice  be  dealt  out  to  me  strictly,  I  must  be 
for  ever  lost :  but  give  me,  oh  God  !  that  which  I  do 
not  deserve,  "  be  merciful  unto  me,  a  sinner :"  forgive 
my  past  sins,  and  enable  me  to  forsake  them,  (for 
this  last  must,  of  course,  be  implied.)  This,  my 
loves,  is  the  frame  and  disposition  of  heart  in  which 
God  will  have  us  pray  to  him.  And  Jesus,  having 
related  the  parable,  confirms  your  opinion  of  the 
merits  of  the  two,  adding,  immediately,  "  I  tell  you, 
this  man  went  down  to  his  house  justified,  rather 
than  the  other."  And  he  adds  the  reason,  which 
was — 

Mary.  That  one  really  did  pray,  mamma,  and  the 
other  did  not. 

Mrs.  B.  That  one  really  did  pray,  and  prayed 
humbly ;  that  the  poor  publican,  with  all  the  disad- 
vantages of  his  education  and  his  early  habits,  had 
that  Christian  virtue  of  humility,  which  is,  in  the 
sight  of  God  "  of  great  price  ;"|  humility  towards 
God,  and  humility  also  (which  is  charity)  towards 
men  :  while  the  Pharisee,  with  all  his  boasted  ac- 
quirements and  supposed  merits,  was  careless  towards 
his  Maker,  and  arrogant  towards  his  fellow-creatures. 
And  Jesus  adds  this  momentous  warning,  to  all  men, 

*  Psalm  li.  3.  t  ^  ^^^'  ^-  ^' 


THE    PARABLES. 


163 


in  all  ages,  and  in  all  circumstances:  "Every  one 
that  exalteth  himself,  shall  be  abased ;"  and  this 
comfort,  also,  to  those  who  seek  it  righdy,  that  "He 
that  hiimbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted." 

Mary.  But  is  it  right,  mamma,  to  seek  to  be  ex- 
alted ?  And  if  it  is  not,  why  does  Jesus  offer  it  as 
a  reward  ? 

Mrs,  B.  Of  what  exaltation  do  you  suppose  he 
speaks  ?  Not  surely  of  worldly  honours,  or  wealth, 
or  glory ;  least  of  all  of  worldly  triumph  over  those 
who  have  exalted  themselves,  and  who  will  be 
abased ;  but  of  that  best  exaltation  at  the  last  day, 
when  the  faithful  and  humble  servants  of  God  shall 
hear  the  glorious  voice,  "  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my 
Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  which  hath  been  pre- 
pared for  you,  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.* 
Then  shall  the  righteous  shine  forth  as  the  sun,  in 
the  kingdom  of  their  Father."|  To  this  exaltation 
we  are  not  only  permitted,  but  commanded  to  look, 
as  the  "  prize  of"  our  "  high  calling,"^  as  the  end  of 
all  our  being,  and  the  object  of  all  our  hopes. 

Henry.  Mamma,  you  said  just  now,  that  humility 
w^as  charity.     I  did  not  quite  know  how  you  meant. 

Mrs.  B.  I  should  rather  have  said,  my  love,  that 
humility  towards  men  was  a  part,  and  a  very  essen- 

*  Matt.  XXV.  34.  f  Matt.  xiii.  43.         +  Phil.  iii.  14. 


164 


CONVERSATIOiVS  ON 


tial  part,  of  charily  :  for  it  is  by  a  want  of  humility, 
by  a  too  good  opinion  of  our  own  merits,  that  we  are 
led  to  compare  them  with  those  of  others,  and,  like 
the  proud  Pharisee,  to  look  down  on  those,  who,  per- 
haps, are  really  our  Superiors.  If  we  think  humbly  of 
ourselves,  we  shall  never  think  contemptuously,  or 
uncharitably,  of  others.  If  we  consider  how  much 
we  need  forgiveness,  we  shall  be  ready  to  forgive 
others  :  if  we  consider  how  little  our  own  motives 
will  bear  being  inquired  into,  we  shall  not  be  too 
ready  to  condemn  those  of  others ;  we  shall  remem- 
ber these  two  warnings,  "  Forgive  and  ye  shall  be 
forgiven.  Judge  not,  and  ye  shall  not  be  judged."* 
And  in  these  two,  consists  no  small  part  of  Christian 
charity.     Do  you  understand  me  now  ? 

Henry.  Yes,  mamma,  quite ;  thank  you. 

Mrs.  B.  And  I  trust,  my  dear  children,  that  what 
you  understand,  you  may,  by  the  grace  of  God,  be 
enabled  to  practise :  and  especially  this  Christian 
virtue  of  humility,  which,  though  essential  to  all,  is 
yet  peculiarly  the  ornament  and  the  blessing  of  child- 
hood :  that  following  his  blessed  example,  who, 
though  the  Son  of  God,  humbled  himself,  and  was 
obedient  to  his  earthly  parents,  you  may,  like  him, 
"  increase  in  wisdom  and  in  stature,  and  in  favour 
both  with  God  and  with  man."t 

*  Luke  vi.  37.  f  Luke  ii.  52. 


THE  PARABLES.  165 


TENTH  DAY. 


"  I  AM  afraid,  my  dears,"  said  Mrs.  B.,  the  follow- 
ing day,  "  that  our  stock  of  parables  is  nearly  ex- 
hausted." 

"Oh!  mamma,"  exclaimed  both  the  children  at 
once,  in  a  tone  of  disappointment. 

"  I  thought,"  said  Mary,  "  there  had  been  a  great 
many  more  parables  in  the  Bible." 

Mrs.  B.  There  are  several  more,  ray  love :  but 
some  of  them  I  should  hardly  be  able  to  make  you 
understand  ;  and  others  are  expressed  in  short  sen- 
tences, which  are  hardly  stories,  and  which  you  will 
read  better  when  you  read  the  Bible  itself.  There 
are,  however,  two  more,  which  I  propose  that  we 
should  read  together ;  but  let  us  first  consider,  shortly, 
those  which  we  have  been  reading,  and  the  principal 
lesson  of  each  of  them.  Do  you  remember,  Mary, 
what  was  the  first  that  we  read  } 

Mary.  Oh,  yes,  mamma,  1  remember  that  quite 
well.     It  was  the  Sower  and  the  Seed. 

Mrs.  B.  And  the  meaning  .'' 

Mary.    It  was  the  way  in  which  different  people 


166  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

receive  the  word  of  God,  and  how  we  ought  to  let  it 
grow  like  the  seed,  in  our  hearts. 

Mrs.  B.  Very  well,  Mary.    And  the  next,  Henry  ? 

Henry.  Was  it  not  the  Servants  and  the  Pounds, 
mamma?  And  to  show  us  how  we  ought  to  im- 
prove our  talents,  like  the  servants  who  were  to  trade 
with  their  money  ? 

Mrs.  B.  Quite  right,  my  dear  boy.  We  then 
went,  if  you  remember,  into  three  parables  at  once : 
— The  Lost  Sheep,  the  Lost  Piece  of  Silver,  and  the 
Prodigal  Son. 

Mary.  Oh,  that  long  beautiful  parable  !  How  well 
I  remember  that ! 

Mrs.  B.  Well,  my  love,  then  tell  me  the  moral 
of  it. 

Mary.  Oh,  mamma,  there  was  so  much  !  But  the 
chief  thing  was  to  show  us  how  we  ought  to  repent, 
when  we  have  done  wrong,  and  how  God  would  re- 
ceive us  if  we  did. 

Mrs.  B.  Very  well,  my  dear  girL  And  now  look 
at  these  five  parables,  and  see  how  large  a  portion 
they  express  of  our  first  duty — duty  to  God.  In  the 
first,  we  learn  the  necessity  of  Faith,  by  which  we 
receive  into  our  hearts  his  holy  word,  letting  it  grow 
there,  and  flourish,  and  bring  forth  fruit.  In  the  se- 
cond, we  learn  actively  to  exercise  our  faith,  and  to 
employ  the  means  of  good  which  God  has  placed  in 


THE  PARABLES.  167 

our  power,  remembering,  that  for  all  of  them,  we 
must  give  an  account  to  him  who  gave  them.  The 
three  others  teach  us  that  most  comfortable  doctrine 
of  Repentance ;  by  which  we  learn,  that  after  all  our 
sins,  we  yet  may  turn  to  our  God,  as  to  a  merciful 
and  loving  Father,  with  fear,  and  love,  and  godly 
sorrow ;  and  that  those  who  so  come  to  him,  he  will 
again  receive,  and  the  angels  of  heaven  will  rejoice 
over  their  return.  From  these  we  passed  to  our 
duty  to  our  neighbours ;  in  one  word,  to  Christian 
charity ;  not  forgetting  that  our  duty  to  them  is  part 
of  our  duty  to  God ;  that  our  love  for  them,  should 
proceed  from  our  love  to  God  ;  and  that  our  conduct 
to  them  should  be  an  humble  imitation  of  the  conduct 
of  God  to  us.  Do  you  recollect,  Henry,  which  was 
the  first  of  this  second  set  ? 

Henry.  I  am  not  sure  that  I  remember  which  was 
next.     Was  it  the  good  Samaritan  ? 

Mrs.  B.  Nor  does  it  much  signify  which  we  took 
next  in  order :  but  you  have  not  forgotten  the  two 
servants,  have  you .'' 

Henry.  Oh !  no,  mamma ;  the  one  who  owed 
more  than  he  could  pay,  and  whose  master  forgave 
him,  and  who  afterwards  would  make  the  other  ser- 
vant pay  him  the  little  debt  ?  Oh !  no,  I  had  not  for- 
gotten that;  but  I  did  not  remember  where  it  came. 

Mrs,  B.  But  the  moral,  my  love } 


168  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

Henry.  That  we  ought  to  forgive  all  men  who 
have  offended  us,  mamma,  because  God  forgives  us 
so  much  more  ? 

Mrs.  B.  Quite  right,  my  dear  boy.  This  parable 
then  enjoins,  as  one  part  of  our  duty  to  our  neighbour, 
or  Christian  charity,  (which  you  will  remember  is 
the  same  thing,)  forgiveness  of  offences  against  us, 
as  we  hope  and  pray  to  be  forgiven ;  "  being  kind 
one  to  another,  tender-hearted,  forgiving  one  another, 
even  as  God,  for  Christ's  sake,  hath  forgiven  us."* 
The  good  Samaritan,  again,  is  a  lesson  of  more  active 
henejicence ;  not  of  forgiving  all,  but  of  doing  good 
to  our  neighbours  :  the  term  neighbours,  meaning  all 
mankind,  under  all  circumstances,  at  all  times,  how- 
ever inconvenient  to  ourselves,  and  however  little 
we  may  be  in  the  world  connected  witli  them.  Now, 
the  third  parable,  Mary. 

Mary.  Was  it  not  the  Rich  Man  and  Lazarus  } 

Mrs.  B.  Yes,  my  love  ;  perhaps  the  most  limited 
in  its  application,  but  certainly  not  the  least  import- 
ant; for  though  ie\y  opportunities  may  occur,  of 
more  special  acts  of  beneficence,  yet  "  the  poor," 
says  our  Lord,  "ye  have  always  with  you  ;"|  and 
judiciously,  yet  liberally,  to  relieve  their  wants,  and 
to  minister  to  their  distresses,  is  no  small  part  of  the 

*  Ephes.  iv.  32.  f  Matt.  xxvi.  11. 


THE  PARABLES. 


169 


responsibility  of  those  who  have  enough  and  to  spare 
of  this  world's  goods.  Again,  this  parable  reminds 
us,  that  while  we  have  opportunity,  we  should  "  do 
good  unto  all  men  ;*  knowing  that,  after  our  death, 
tliere  will  be  no  longer  room  for  repentance,  nor  for 
good  works  ;  that  then  "  the  night  cometh,  when  no 
man  can  work."t 

The  fourth  parable  was  the  one  which  we  read 
yesterday,  which  enjoins  humility  towards  God,  and 
charitable  judgment  towards  men ;  and  which,  as  we 
have  so  lately  read  it,  we  need  not  enter  into  again. 
Once  more,  let  us  look  back  at  the  summary  of  all 
enjoined  us,  in  what  we  have  read. 

1st.  Faith  in  God,  and  a  devout  acceptance  of  his 
most  holy  word. 

2d.  An  active  exercise  of  that  faith,  in  such  good 
works  as  are  its  fruit  and  effects. 

3d.  A  sincere  repentance  of  our  sins  past,  and  a 
steadfast  resolution  to  forsake  them  for  the  future. 

Then  comes  our  duty  to  our  neighbours,  m- 
cluding,  1st.  A  ready  forgiveness  of  all  their  sins, 
remembering  who  has  forgiven  us,  and  how  much 
he  has  forgiven. 

2d.  Universal  beneficence  to  all  mankind,  know- 
ing that  all  are  children  of  the  same  Father  and  God. 

*  Gal.  vi.  10.  t  John  ix.  4. 

15 


170  CONVERSATIONS    ON 

3d.  Kindness  and  liberality  to  the  poor  and  needy, 
knowing  that  "He  that  hath  pity  upon  the  poor, 
lendeth  unto  the  Lord."* 

And,  lastly,  charitable  judgment  of  the  thoughts 
and  actions  of  others;  since  we  are  assured  that 
"  with  what  measure  we  mete,  it  shall  be  measured 
unto  us  again.""! 

Though  much  more,  no  doubt,  might  be  added, 
and  though  every  line  of  the  sacred  writings  will 
teach  us,  more  and  more,  how  sedulously  we  ought 
to  keep  the  commandments  of  God,  and  walk  in  his 
holy  ways;  yet,  believe  me,  dear  children,  that  if  we 
bear  in  mind  these  precepts,  and  study  to  act  up  to 
them,  by  the  mercy  of  our  God,  we  shall  not  be  "  far 
from  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

And  now,  my  loves,  having,  by  our  former  para- 
bles, learnt  what  is  our  duty  to  God  and  to  man,  we 
will  see  how  it  is  that  God  calls  us  to  perform  those 
duties ;  whom  he  calls,  and  what  we  must  expect, 
if  we  refuse  to  obey  his  call,  or  render  ourselves  un- 
fit for  attending  upon  it. 

*  Proverbs  xix.  17.  f  Matt.  vii.  2. 


THE    PARABLES.  171 


PARABLE  OF   THE  MARRIAGE  OF  THE  KLXG'S   SOX. 


Matt.  xxii.  2. 

Mrs.  B.  "  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a 
certain  king,"  (you  see  here  the  same  form  of  begin- 
ning, upon  which  we  made  some  remarks  a  few  days 
ago,)  "  which  made  a  marriage  for  his  son  :"  or 
rather,  who  made  a  feast  on  the  occasion  of  the  mar- 
riage of  his  son  ;  "  and  sent  forth  his  servants  to  call 
them  that  were  bidden"  (or  invited)  ^'  to  the  wedding  • 
and  they  would  not  come.  Again,  he  sent  forth  other 
servants,  saying,  Tell  them  which  are  bidden,  behold, 
I  have  prepared  my  dinner :  my  oxen  and  my  fatlings 
are  killed,  and  all  things  are  ready :  come  unto  the 
marriage.  But  they  made  light  of  it,  and  went  their 
ways,  one  to  his  farm,  another  to  his  merchandise  ; 
and  the  remnant  took  his  servants,  and  entreated  them 
spitefully,  and  slew  them.  But  when  the  king  heard 
thereof,  he  was  wroth  ;  and  he  sent  forth  his  armies, 
and  destroyed  those  murderers,  and  burned  up  their 
city.  Then  saith  he  to  his  servants,  The  wedding 
is  ready,  but  they  which   were  bidden,  were   not 


172  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

worthy.  Go  ye,  therefore,  into  the  highways,  and  as 
many  as  ye  shall  find,  bid  to  the  marriage.  So  those 
servants  went  out  into  the  highways,  and  gathered 
together  all,  as  many  as  they  found,  both  bad  and 
good  ;  and  the  wedding  was  furnished  with  guests. 
And  when  the  king  came  in  to  see  the  guests,  he  saw 
there  a  man  wliich  had  not  on  a  wedding  garment, 
and  he  saith  unto  him.  Friend,  how  camest  thou  in 
hither,  not  having  a  wedding  garment .''  And  he  was 
speechless.  Then  said  the  king  to  the  servants, 
Bind  him  hand  and  foot,  and  take  him  away,  and 
cast  him  into  outer  darkness." 

Henry.  What,  because  he  was  not  well  dressed 
enough,  mamma .''  Surely,  that  was  not  right  of  the 
king  ;  particularly  when  he  had  asked  him  in  himself. 

Mrs.  B.  My  dear  boy,  your  objection,  which, 
however,  does  not  surprise  me,  proceeds  from  your 
thinking  of  the  manners  and  habits  of  the  present  daj'", 
in  which  it  would  not  only  be  highly  unjust  to  act 
in  the  vs^ay  you  imagine  the  king  to  have  acted,  (as 
indeed  it  would  have  been  in  that  day,  if  you  had 
quite  correctly  stated  the  circumstances ;)  but  it  would 
also  be  preposterous  and  absurd  for  a  king,  upon  the 
marriage  of  his  son,  or  any  great  occasion,  to  send 
out  for  his  guests,  literally,  into  the  highways  and 
hedge-sides.  But  in  the  times  and  country,  in  which 
our  Saviour  lived,  there  was  nothing  ridiculous  or 


THE  PARABLES.  173 

extraordinary  in  either  of  these  circumstances.  It 
was  no  uncommon  thing  for  great  persons,  upon 
great  occasions,  to  give  feasts,  which  lasted,  some- 
times, several  days  together,  at  which  all  who  came, 
travellers  and  others,  of  whatever  rank  in  life,  were 
received  and  fed  :  a  part  of  the  entertainment  con- 
sisted also  in  giving  to  such  of  the  guests  as  had 
them  not,  suitable  dresses  for  the  occasion.  "  Changes 
of  raiment,"  you  will  find,  in  reading  the  history  of 
the  Bible,  spoken  of  as  the  commonest  species  of 
present  made  by  a  person  to  his  guests.  And  you 
remember,  in  reading  the  parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son, 
they  brought  out  "  the  best  robe  and  put  it  on  him." 
Dresses  being  thus  furnished  by  the  master  of  the 
feast  to  all  who  applied  for  them,  it  was  a  piece  of 
disrespect,  amounting  to  an  insult,  to  come  to  the 
table  without  such  a  preparation,  and  merited  that, 
which  in  this  instance  it  received,  being  turned  out 
from  the  brilliant  feast  into  the  darkness  and  gloom 
of  the  street. 

Mary.  But  is  that  what  is  meant  by  "  outer  dark- 
ness," mamma .?  because  I  thought  it  meant  much 
worse  than  that. 

Mrs.  B.  So  it  is  explained  by  the  commentators,  my 
love,  on  this  passage :  in  the  spiritual  sense,  indeed, 

being  turned  away  from  the  heavenly  feast 

But  before  we  go  to  this,  we  had  better  go  through 
15* 


174  COXVERSATIOXS    ON 

the  meaning  of  the  parable  generally.  Do  you  un- 
derstand the  meaning  of  it,  Mary  ? 

Mary.  No,  mamma,  I  do  not  think  I  do ;  I  was 
trying  as  you  read  it,  but  I  could  not  make  any 
thing  of  it. 

Mrs.  B.  Let  us  see,  then,  what  we  can  make  out 
together.  In  the  first  place,  the  king,  the  giver  of 
the  feast,  was — ? 

Mary.  God,  mamma. 

Mrs.  B.  And  the  feast,  to  which  he  called  or  in- 
vited a  certain  number  at  first — } 

Mary.  Oh  !  I  see,  mamma,  the  parable  is  against 
the  Jews,  who  were  first  called  to  be  Christians,  and 
who  would  not. 

Mrs.  B.  Now,  my  love,  you  have  the  right  key 
to  the  meaning  of  the  parable.  It  was  spoken  against 
the  Jews  in  the  first  instance,  yet  not  without  a  pro- 
phetic warning  to  us,  and  to  all  persons  in  future 
ages  of  the  world,  which  we  shall  do  well  to  ponder 
in  our  hearts.  With  God's  assistance,  then,  we  will 
endeavour  to  see  what  lesson  we  are  able  to  draw 
from  this  parable. 

God,  as  we  have  seen,  is  the  king,  who  prepares 
of  his  bounty  a  great  feast,  and  prepares  it  too  on 
account,  and  in  honour  of,  his  Son;  to  this  feast  he 
invites  a  chosen  number  of  persons,  and  from  time 
to  time  he  sends  forth  his  servants  and  messengers 


THE    PARABLES.  175 

to  warn  them  of  the  invitation  ;  at  length  he  sends  to 
announce  to  them,  that  the  feast  was  actually  pre- 
pared, that  all  things  "  were  ready."  This,  as  you 
partly  saw,  Mary,  was  the  dealing  of  Almighty  God, 
with  regard  to  the  Jewish  nation.  From  a  very 
early  time,  God  chose  them  out  to  be  a  peculiar 
people,  to  "  keep  his  statutes  and  observe  nis  laws  :"* 
and  to  preserve  the  expectation  of  that  great  promised 
Messiah,  in  whom  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  were 
to  be  blessed.  To  the  Jews  he  sent  his  messengers, 
the  prophets,  calling  his  people  to  repentance,  and 
they  would  not  hear  :  and  lastly,  to  the  Jews  first,  he 
sent  his  long-promised  Son,  saying,  "  Come,  for  all 
things  are  ready ;""("  come,  for  the  prophecies  are  now 
accomplished  ;  come,  and  I  will  bring  you  the  "bread 
of  life ;"  and  "  the  water  of  life,  whosoever  drinketh 
of  which  shall  never  thirst ;  but  the  water  that  I  shall 
give  him,  shall  be  in  him  a  well  of  water  springing 
up  into  everlasting  life." J  How  then  did  they  receive 
the  invitation  to  this  inestimable  feast  ?  "  They  made 
light  of  it,  and  went  their  ways,  one  to  his  farm,  an- 
other to  his  merchandise,  and  the  remnant  took 
his  servants,  and  entreated  them  spiteful!}-,  and 
slew  them." 

Mary.  But  did  Jesus  mean  this  parable  as  a  pro- 

*  Psalm  cv.  45.       -j-  Luke  xiv.  17.        ^  John  iv.  14. 


176  CONVERSATIONS    ON 

phecy,  mamma,  of  what  they  would  do  to  himself  ? 
For  he  was  one  of  the  servants,  was  he  not  ? 

Mrs.  B.  No  doubt,  my  love,  he  who  "  took  upon 
him  the  form  of  a  servant,"*  here  represents  himself 
as  one  of  those  sent  out  by  the  king  to  call  the  Jews 
to  the  heavenly  feast;  and  no  doubt  that  he  intended 
to  foretell,  in  this  discourse,  what  would  happen  to 
himself;  and  also,  what  in  a  most  signal  manner  did 
happen  shortly  after,  to  his  murderers.  And  having 
seen  the  accomplishment  of  one  part  of  the  punish- 
ment threatened,  let  us  be  more  and  more  careful  to 
avoid  that  heavy  visitation  which  is  afterwards  de- 
nounced. But  let  us  look  a  little  more  closely  at 
the  conduct  of  the  Jews  ;  when  this  feast  of  heavenly 
things  was  held  out  to  them,  what  did  they  do  ? 

Mary.  "  They  made  light  of  it,  and  went  their 
ways,  one  to  his  farm,  another  to  his  merchandise." 

Mrs.  B.  That  is,  they  treated  contemptuously  the 
gracious  invitation,  because  it  interfered  with  the 
amusements,  or  the  business  of  the  present  world : 
they  were  occupied  with  the  cares  of  this  life,  and 
the  deceitfulness  of  riches,  and  they  neglected  the 
good  tidings  of  great  joy,  which  were  to  be  to  all 
nations.  But  I  am  afraid  the  Jews  are  not  the  only 
people  to  whom  this  blame  might  be  attached.     Are 

*  Phil.  u.  7. 


THE  PARABLES.  177 

there  none  among  iis,  who  are  Christians,  who 
"  make  light"  of  the  call  wiiich  God  has  given  us, 
tliroiigh  his  Son  ?  None  among  us,  who  think  more 
of  our  business  and  our  amusements,  "  our  farms 
and  our  merchandise,"  than  of  that  heavenly  feast  to 
which  we  are  invited  ?  that  treasure  which  is  laid  up 
for  us,  "  where  neither  moth  nor  rust  doth  corrupt, 
and  where  no  thieves  can  break  through  and  steal!"* 

Mary.  Mamma,  I  have  often  thought  that  if  one 
had  lived  at  the  same  time  with  Jesus  Christ,  and 
heard  him,  and  seen  his  miracles,  one  could  not  have 
helped  believing  in  him,  and  then  one  must  have 
obeyed  him,  and  followed  him. 

Mrs.  B.  My  love,  his  rejection  by  the  Jews  was  a 
melancholy  instance  of  the  power  of  prejudice  to 
close  the  human  heart,  even  against  the  clearest  evi- 
dence ;  but  while  we  condemn  them,  we  alike  con- 
demn ourselves  in  almost  all  our  daily  conduct. 
What  evidence  had  they  which  we  have  not  ?  We 
have  equal  means  of  being  convinced  of  the  truth  of 
his  gospel,  of  the  reality  of  his  miracles.  If  we  be- 
lieve in  his  word,  we  have  it  before  us,  as  surely 
coming  from  him  as  if  we  heard  it  from  his  own 
mouth ;  and  if  we  do  not  make  it  the  guide  of  all 
our  actions,  we  are  just  as  guilty  as  they  were.  Nay, 

*  Matt  vi.  20. 


178  COxWERSATlONS  ON 

we  are  more  unjustifiable  still,  for  we  have  no  deep- 
rooted  national  prejudices  to  contend  against;  no 
early  impressions  to  overcome  :  "  from  a  child,"  we 
have  each  of  us  "  known  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which 
are  able  to  make  us  wise  unto  salvation."*  Again, 
the.Jews,  when  they  were  first  called  upon  to  follow 
our  Saviour,  to  be  the  early  disciples  and  teachers 
of  his  word,  were  called  upon  to  forsake  all  tliat 
they  had,  which  was  most  dear  to  them ;  "  to  sell 
whatsoever  they  had,  and  give  to  the  poor,  and  take 
up  their  cross,  and  follow  him,"t  through  perils,  and 
persecutions,  and  death.  JVe  are  called  on  to  make 
no  such  sacrifices  ;  we  are  not  ordered  to  give  up 
father,  or  mother,  or  husband,  or  vvife,  or  children, 
for  his  name's  sake  :  we  are  not  forbidden  to  attend 
to  our  "farm  and  our  merchandise;"  but  we  are 
called  on,  not  so  to  set  our  hearts  upon  any  of  these 
things,  as  to  "make  light"  of  the  call  to  his  heavenly 
feast.  But  let  us  now  return  to  our  parable,  and  to 
that  part  of  it,  which  more  immediately  relates  to  the 
Jews.  The  neglect  of  the  invitation,  which  it  was 
their  duty  to  have  obeyed,  led  them  to  feel  angry 
with  those  messengers  who  were  sent  to  warn  them 
of  their  duty  :  and  thus,  as  one  sin  almost  always 
leads  to  others  worse,  they  ended  by  "  despitefully 
entreating,"  and  at  last  murdering  them. 

*  3  Tim.  iii.  15.  -f  Mark  x.  21. 


THE  PARABLES.  179 

Mary.  But  what  excuse  had  they,  mamma  ?  What 
reason  for  murdering  the  servants  who  were  sent  to 
invite  them  ? 

Mrs.  B.  No  excuse,  my  love  ;  no  reason,  no  pal- 
liation ;  their  anger  at  those  who  warned  them  of 
their  sin,  in  neglecting  the  invitations  of  their  Lord, 
was  probably  the  cause,  but  certainly  not  an  excuse 
for  their  conduct.  Yet  such  had  been,  and  such 
Jesus  well  knew  would  be,  the  behaviour  of  the 
Jews ;  and  he  well  knew  also,  and  foretold  in  the 
next  verse  of  the  parable,  w^hat  should  be  the  conse- 
quence of  their  crimes.  "The  king  sent  forth  his 
armies,  and  destroyed  those  murderers,  and  burned 
up  their  city."  And  in  less  than  fifty  years  after  this 
parable  was  uttered,  while  many  yet  lived  who  had 
heard  it,  Jerusalem  was  destroyed  by  the  Roman 
armies,  which  God  had  permitted  to  go  up  against  it, 
and  take  it. 

Mary.  But  I  should  think  such  a  wonderful  event 
must  have  convinced  all  the  world  of  the  truth  of 
our  Saviour's  prophecies. 

Mrs.  B.  At  all  events,  it  may  well  serve  to  add  to, 
and  to  confirm  our  faith ;  and  to  strengthen  us  in  our 
resolutions  to  follow  his  holy  commandments;  know- 
ing that  "  though  heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away, 
his  words  shall  not  pass  away,"*  but  shall  all  be 

*  Matt.  xxiv.  35. 


180 


CONVERSATIOXS   ON 


fulfilled.  But  let  us  go  on  with  the  explanation  of 
our  parable.  Who  are  those,  Mary,  who  were  or- 
dered to  be  collected  from  the  highways } 

Manj.  I  suppose,  mamma,  if  the  first  people  who 
were  asked  meant  the  Jews,  that  the  others  meant 
all  the  rest  of  the  world. 

Mrs.  B.  Quite  right,  my  dear  girl ;  this  parable 
points  out,  in  the  plainest  terms,  that  great  doctrine 
of  the  Christian  religion,  which  was  to  the  "  Jews  a 
stumbling-block,  and  to  the  Greeks  foolishness,"* 
that  the  Jews  were  no  longer  to  be  exclusively  the 
people  of  God :  a  doctrine  which  even  the  apostles 
themselves  were  slow  to  believe,  till  long  after  the 
resurrection  of  their  Lord ;  and  which,  when  Peter 
was  at  last  compelled  to  acknowledge,  made  him  cry 
out  in  astonishment  and  joy,  '■'Of  a  truth  I  perceive 
that  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons:  but  in  every 
nation,  he  that  feareth  him,  and  worketh  righteous- 
ness, is  accepted  with  him."|  And<  yet  it  is  one 
which,  throughout  the  prophetic  writings,  is  clearly 
and  distinctly  foretold,  from  the  promise  made  to 
Abraham,  that  in  one  of  his  descendants  "  should  all 
the  nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed,"^  down  to  the 
very  last  of  the  prophets,  who  foretold  the  coming 
of  the  Messiah. 

»  1  Cor.  i.  23.        f  Acts  x.  34,  35.        +  Gen.  xxii.  18. 


THE  PARABLES.  181 

Mary.  But  how  was  it,  mamma,  that  the  Jews  did 
not  understand  these  prophecies  ? 

Mrs.  B.  They  interpreted  them  in  a  different  man 
ner :  they  expected  that  the  Messiah  was  to  be  a 
great  earthly  prince  and  conqueror,  who  should  re- 
store their  nation  to  more  than  its  former  glory,  and 
subject  all  others  to  his  power :  and  they  refused  to 
admit  the  claims  of  him,  who  came  into  their  city, 
"  meek  and  sitting  upon  an  ass,  and  on  a  colt,  the 
foal  of  an  ass."*  But  let  us  rather  consider  what 
reason  we  have  to  bless  God,  who  of  his  wonderful 
providence  has  so  ordered  the  course  of  events,  as  to 
supply  the  place  of  those  who  would  not  come,  with 
all  the  rest  of  mankind ;  with  those  who,  "  in  the 
highways  and  hedges,"  were  removed  from  all  appa- 
rent chance  of  partaking  of  the  heavenly  banquet, 
till  they  were  graciously  called  by  him,  who  would 
have  all  men  come  to  him. 

Mary.  Still,  mamma,  I  do  not  quite  understand 
what  is  meant  by  the  man  who  had  not  on  a  wed- 
ding garment.  You  explained  quite  well  what  it 
meant  in  the  parable,  but  I  suppose  there  is  some 
other  meaning,  is  there  not  ? 

Mrs.  B.  Most  assuredly  there  is,  and  an  awful 
meaning,  which  I  will  make  clear  to  you  immediately. 

*  Matt.  xxi.  5.     Zech.  ix.  9. 
16 


182  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

You  remember,  that  of  those  who  were  first  asked, 
none  were  admitted  to  the  supper ;  but  their  places 
were  filled  by  others,  who  were  called  from  all  quar- 
ters, and  furnished,  upon  their  request,  by  the  king, 
with  suitable  garments  to  appear  at  the  feast.  One, 
however,  was  found  without  such  a  garment ;  and 
he,  though  he  had  been  invited,  was  finally  rejected 
and  cast  out.  Now,  the  first  asked  were  the  Jews, 
who  denied  and  slighted  our  Lord :  their  places  in 
the  favour  of  God,  and  in  the  admission  to  his  house, 
were  filled  with  Gentiles  of  all  nations  and  languages ; 
but  upon  conditions.  There  was  a  preparation  to  be 
made,  something  to  be  sought  for  to  render  us  "  meet 
partakers  of  that  holy"  feast;  and  that  something, 
we  are  told  to  ask  for,  and  we  shall  have.  Now, 
Mary,  do  you  understand  what  is  the  wedding  gar- 
ment of  a  Christian  guest  at  the  great  feast  ? 

Mary.  I  am  not  sure,  mamma ;  does  it  mean  good- 
ness ? 

Mrs.  B.  Goodness,  my  love,  in  its  most  compre- 
hensive shape ;  for  goodness  alone,  if  by  the  word 
you  mean  morality,  does  not  approach  to  the  prepa- 
ration which  we  are  required  to  make.  To  explain 
it  shortly  and  fully,  J  should  say  the  wedding  gar- 
ment meant  a  "Christian  spirit:"  such  a  general 
frame  and  temper  of  mind  as  inclines  us  always  to 
look  to  God,  to  believe  in  his  blessed  Son,  to  wor- 


THE   PARABLES.  183 

ship  him ;  to  love  him,  to  fear  and  serve  him ;  a 
spirit  of  which  the  fruits  are,  according  to  St.  Paul, 
"  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering-,  gentleness,  good- 
ness, faith,  meekness,  temperance  :"*  a  spirit  of 
purity,  represented  by  the  clean  robe  which  was  put 
on  the  guests :  a  spirit,  in  short,  such  as  can  only 
come  from  God  himself,  and  which  will  surely  lead 
us  to  God. 

Mary.  But  how  are  we  to  obtain  such  a  spirit, 
mamma  ? 

Mr.s.  B.  There  is  one  only  way,  my  love,  but  it 
is  a  sure  way — by  prayer  to  him  who  only  can  give 
it.  To  those  who  diligently  seek  for  it,  he  says, 
"  Every  one  that  asketh  receiveth,  and  he  who  seeketh 
findeth  :"t  but  those  who  have  it  not,  he  will  surely 
exclude  from  his  table,  and  thrust  into  outer  dark- 
ness ;  "  there,"  as  Jesus  says,  in  concluding  the 
parable,  "  shall  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth." 
And  he  adds  these  awful  words  :  "  For  many  are 
called,  but  few  chosen. 

Mary.  But  surely,  mamma,  this  does  not  mean 
that  few  people  in  the  world  will  be  saved  ? 

Mrs.  B.  It  is  a  fearful  question,  and  one  which 
we  should  not  hastily  decide  upon :  God  only 
knows  what  is  meant  here  by  the  words  "  many" 

*  Gal.  V.  22,  23.  f  Matt.  vii.  8. 


184  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

and  "few."*  He  only  knows  who  will,  and  who 
will  not  be  saved:  for  us,  I  know  no  safer  answer 
that  can  be  given,  than  that  which  Jesus  gave  to  one 
of  his  disciples,  when  he  asked  him  nearly  the  same 
question  that  you  have  done  :  "  Lord  are  there  few 
that  be  saved  ?  And  he  said  unto  them.  Strive  to 
enter  in  at  the  strait"  (or  narrow)  "gate  :  for  many, 
I  say  unto  you,  will  seek  to  enter  in,  and  shall  not 
be  able."!  That  is  to  say,  be  not  over  curious  in 
considering  the  concerns  of  others;    but,  knowing 

*  There  is  a  passage  in  Fuller's  "  Good  Thoughts  in  Bad 
Times,"  so  applicable  to  the  present  subject,  and  the  concluding 
sentence  of  which  is  one  in  which  I  have  so  much  reason  to 
join,  that  I  cannot  refrain  from  quoting  it  at  length:  especially 
as  the  language  is  simple  enough  to  be  quite  intelligible  to  my 
young  readers.  "  In  the  parable  of  the  four  sorts  of  ground 
whereon  the  seed  was  sown,  the  last  alone  proved  fruitful. 
There  the  bad  were  more  than  the  good  :  but  amongst  the  ser- 
vants, two  improved  their  talents  or  pounds,  and  only  one 
buried  them  :  there  the  good  were  more  than  the  bad.  Again, 
amongst  the  ten  virgins, '  five  were  wise,  and  five  fooUsh :'  there 
the  good  and  bad  were  equal.  I  see  that  concerning  the  number 
of  the  saints,  in  comparison  to  the  reprobates,  no  certainty  can 
be  collected  from  these  parables :  good  reason,  for  it  is  not  their 
principal  purpose  to  meddle  with  that  point.  Grant,  Lord,  that 
I  may  never  rack  a  Scripture  simile  beyond  the  true  intent 
thereof;  lest,  instead  of  sucking  milk,  I  squeeze  blood  out  of  it." 

f  Luke  xiiL  23, 24. 


THE    PARABLES.  185 

that  the  path  to  eternal  life  is  narrow  and  difficult, 
strive,  for  your  own  parts,  carefully  to  follow  the 
guidance  of  God's  word,  which  shall  finally  bring 
you  to  the  gate  of  heaven. 

Mary.  Mamma,  that  seemed  to  me  not  quite  .  . 
.  .  .  .  I  mean  it  seemed  different  from  what  you 
said  just  now,  that  all  who  prayed  for  God's  assist- 
ance should  have  it — and  here  it  says,  that  "  many 
shall  seek  to  enter  in,  and  shall  not  be  able."  That 
seems  a  contradiction,  does  it  not .'' 

Mrs.  B.  No,  my  love,  not  if  you  consider  it  pro- 
perly ;  the  Bible  says,  indeed,  "  many  shall  seek  to 
enter  in  and  shall  not  be  able  ;"  but  it  does  not  say 
hoio  they  will  seek  ;  it  does  not  say  that  they  will 
pray  and  seek  for  God's  assistance,  without  which  all 
their  endeavours  will  be  nothing  worth.  "  It  is  not 
meant  that  any  Christian  will  ever  sincerely  do  his 
best  to  enter  into  life  eternal,  and  fail  in  it;  but  that 
many  imagine  that  God  has  marked  out  other  ways 
to  happiness  than  obeying  his  laws ;  and  many  too, 
who  are  fully  sensible  there  is  no  other  way,  use  so 
little  diligence  in  following  this,  that  their  progress  is 
insufficient  to  make  them  arrive  at  eternal  felicity."* 
Do  you  understand  this,  Mary  ? 

Mary.  Yes,  mamma,  I  believe  I  do  now :  but  it  is 

*  Archbishop  Seeker.      Notes  to  Mant's  Bible.     Matt  vii.  24. 

16* 


186  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

surely  a  dreadful  thought  that  so  many  persons  will 
be  miserable  for  ever  ! 

Mrs.  B.  It  is  a  dreadful  thought,  my  dear  child ; 
but  the  certainty  that  such  will  be  the  case,  "  that 
wide  is  the  gate,  and  broad  is  the  way  that  leadeth  to 
destruction,  and  many  there  be  that  go  in  thereat  ;"* 
should  have  at  least  this  effect  upon  us,  to  make  us 
doubly  careful  of  our  own  conduct,  doubly  watchful 
over  our  own  hearts,  and  doubly  earnest  in  our 
prayers  to  that  blessed  Saviour,  who  is  "  the  way, 
and  the  truth,  and  the  life  ;"|  and  who  himself  hath 
told  us,  "Without  me  ye  can  do  nothing. "J  May 
that  God,  who  has  called  us  all  to  the  feast  of  his 
blessed  Son,  in  mercy  grant  that  when  the  king 
Cometh  in  to  see  the  guests,  we  may  be  found  clothed 
with  the  wedding  garment  of  Christian  faith  ;  or,  in 
the  words  of  the  revelation  which  we  quoted  once 
before,  "  with  robes  washed  and  made  white  in  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb.'*  Then  shall  we  be  among  those 
of  whom  (according  to  the  prophet  Isaiah,  speaking 
by  the  Spirit  of  God)  "  it  shall  be  said  in  that  day, 
Lo,  this  is  our  God,  we  have  waited  for  'him,  and  he 
will  save  us ;  this  is  the  Lord,  we  have  waited  for 
him :  we  will  be  glad  and  rejoice  in  his  salvation."§ 

*  Matt.  vii.  13.  f  John  xiv.  6. 

\  John  XV.  5.  §  Isa.  xxv.  9. 


THE  PARABLES.  187 

Then  shall  the  multitude  of  his  redeemed  "  not  hun- 
ger nor  thirst ;  neither  shall  the  heat  nor  sun  smite 
them ;  for  he  that  hath  mercy  on  them,  shall  lead 
them,  even  by  the  springs  of  water  shall  he  guide 
them."*  "  He  will  swallow  up  death  in  victory  ;  and 
the  Lord  God  will  wipe  away  tears  from  off  all 
faces ;  and  the  rebuke  of  his  people  shall  he  take 
away  from  off  all  the  earth  ;  for  the  Lord  hath 
spoken  it."| 

*  Isa.  xlix.  10.  f  Isa.  xxv.  8. 


188  CONVERSATIONS  ON 


ELEVENTH  DAY. 


PARABLE    OF    THE    TEN    VIRGINS, 


Matt.  xxv.  1. 

Mary.  And  this  is  really  to  be  our  last  day  of  pa- 
rables, mamma!  I  am  so  sorry  for  it,  for  I  like 
reading  them  in  this  way  very  much. 

Mrs.  B.  You  will,  I  hope,  my  love,  like  reading 
them  more  and  more,  the  oftener  you  read  them,  and 
the  more  you  study  them.  When  you  read  the 
Bible  itself,  you  will  find  several  more  of  these  para- 
bles, containing  lessons  which  you  may  well  reason 
-upon  and  consider ;  many  which  will  not  strike  you 
at  first  sight,  but  in  which  you  will  find,  at  each  fresh 
reading,  more  hidden  truths,  and  morte  valuable  in- 
struction; but  1  have  selected  now  most  of  those 
which  I  think  are  best  suited  to  our  present  purpose, 
and  I  hope  our  conversations  on  them  will  not  soon 
be  forgotten. 

Mary.  Oh !  no,  mamma,  I  am  sure  they  will  not : 


THE    PARABLES.  189 

and  I  am  quite  sure  we  shall  both  understand  these 
parables  very  much  better  than  we  should  have  done, 
without  talking  about  them  in  this  way  ;  but  only  I 
am  sorry  that  there  are  no  more  of  them. 

Mrs.  B.  Endeavour,  my  dear  loves,  to  remember 
well,  not  only  the  parables  which  we  have  read,  but 
the  lessons  which  they  are  intended  to  convey;  and 
not  only  to  remember,  but  as  far  as  you  have  oppor- 
tunities, to  practise  those  holy  thoughts,  and  those 
Christian  virtues  which  are  taught  in  them.  "Re- 
member now  thy  Creator,"  says  the  wisest  of  men, 
"  in  the  days  of  thy  youth."*  And  who,  indeed,  is 
there  who  knows  whether  he  shall  live  to  be  old  ? 
Which  of  us  knows  whether  God  will  grant  us 
another  year,  another  day,  or  even  another  hour  of 
life .? 

Mary.  Mamma,  I  hope  it  is  not  wrong  to  wish  to 
live  a  long  while ;  but  I  am  so  very  happy,  that  I 
should  be  very  sorry  if  I  were  to  die  soon. 

Mrs.  B.  And  may  our  merciful  God  and  Father 
keep  you  here  on  earth  for  many  happy  and  useful 
years  !  No,  my  love,  assuredly  it  is  not  wrong,  and 
at  your  age  it  is  most  natural,  to  enjoy,  with  a  grate- 
ful heart,  all  the  blessings  of  life ;  and  to  love,  and 
be  thankful  for  that  state  in  which  it  has  pleased 

*  Eccles.  xii.  1. 


190  CONVERSATIOXS  ON 

Almighty  Wisdom  that  you  should  be  placed  :  but  as 
certainly  it  is  right,  and  the  bounden  duty  of  every 
one  of  us,  old  or  young,  to  endeavour  to  be  prepared 
whenever  it  shall  please  that  same  Almighty  Wisdom 
to  call  us  to  another  state.  You  remember  the  prayer 
in  the  Evening  Hymn : 

"  Teach  me  to  live,  that  I  may  dread 
The  grave  as  Utile  as  my  bed." 

And  such  should  be  the  earnest  prayer  of  every 
Christian.  W^e  are  indeed  taught  how  to  live,  and 
our  prayer  ought  rather  to  be,  to  give  us  grace  to 
practise  what  we  know,  remembering  always  our  Sa- 
viour's words,  "  Jf  ye  know  these  things,  happy  are 
ye  if  ye  do  them."*  But  we  have  turned  upon  a  sub- 
ject which  leads  us  exactly  to  the  parable  which  I 
had  intended  to  take  for  to-day's  reading.  If  you 
please,  1  will  begin  it,  and  we  will  make  our  obser- 
vations on  it  as  we  go  on. 

Mary.  Thank  you,  mamma,  I  had  quite  forgotten 
that  we  were  come  for  the  parables;  but  I  shall  like 
to  hear  it  very  much. 

Mrs.  B.  We  will  begin  then,  at  once,  with  the 
parable  of  the  Ten  Virgins. 

"  Then,"  says  our  Lord,  speaking  of  the  last  day, 

*  John  xiii.  17. 


THE  PARABLES.  191 

"  shall  the  kingdom  of  heaven  be  likened  unto  ten 
I'irgins,  which  took  their  lamps  and  went  forth  to 
meet  the  bridegroom." 

Henry.  What,  is  this  another  parable  about  a  mar- 
riage ! 

Mrs.  B.  Yes ;  and  the  meaning  of  the  verse  is, 
perhaps,  not  very  clear  without  understanding  some- 
thing of  the  Jewish  customs  with  regard  to  marriages. 
They  are  all  celebrated  at  night;  and  the  new  mar- 
ried couple  go  about  in  a  sort  of  procession  for  some 
time,  with  all  their  relations  and  friends  attending 
them,  with  drums  and  trumpets,  and  lights.  When 
they  return  home,  they  find  the  whole  house  lighted 
up,  and  a  feast  prepared,  and  the  servants  and  attend- 
ants, with  torches  or  lamps,  waiting  to  receive  them. 
These  ten  virgins,  therefore,  who  are  spoken  of,  were 
some  of  those,  whose  duty  it  was  to  remain  in  the 
house,  and  "go  forth  to  meet  the  bridegroom,"  with 
their  lamps,  when  he  returned. 

Henry.  Thank  you,  mamma ;  and  now,  if  you  will 
go  on,  I  will  not  stop  you  again. 

Mrs.  B.  "  And  five  of  them  were  wise,  and  nve 
were  foolish."  Their  wisdom  or  folly  we  shall  see 
directly.  "They  that  were  foolish  took  their  lamps, 
and  took  no  oil  with  them  :  but  the  wise  took  oil  in 
their  vessels  with  their  lam.ps.  While  the  bridegroom 
tarried,  they  all  slumbered  and  slept.     And  at  mid- 


192  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

night  there  was  a  cry  made,  Behold,  the  bridegroom 
Cometh,  go  ye  out  to  meet  him.  Then  all  those  vir- 
gins arose,  and  trimmed  their  lamps.  And  the  foolish 
said  unto  the  wise,  Give  us  of  your  oil,  for  our  lamps 
are  gone  out :  but  the  wise  answered,  saying.  Not 
so,  lest  there  be  not  enough  for  us  and  you  :  but  go 
ye  rather  to  them  that  sell,  and  buy  for  yourselves." 

Henry.  That  may  have  been  very  wise,  mamma ; 
but  it  seems  to  be  very  ill-natured  and  selfish. 

Mrs.  B.  No,  my  love,  not  so :  if  they  had  had 
abundance  for  themselves,  or  more  than  was  neces- 
sary, then,  indeed,  they  ought  to  have  given  to  their 
neighbours  who  were  in  want  of  it ;  and  that,  with- 
out considering  whether  they  were  in  want  by  their 
own  neglect  or  not ;  but  it  is  the  first  duty  of  every 
one  to  attend  to  his  own  necessities;  and  to^  give 
away  what  we  require  to  perform  a  part  of  our  duty, 
in  order  to  assist  others,  is  an  act,  not  of  generosity, 
but  of  injustice  as  well  as  folly.  The  five  wise  vir- 
gins had  provided  oil  for  themselves,  to  perform  that 
which  they  were  bound  to  do  :  and  they  could  not 
give  to  the  others,  without  neglecting  the  orders 
which  they  had  themselves  received. 

Henry.  I  suppose  you  are  right,  mamma ;  but  still, 
it  seemed  very  hard  upon  the  others. 

Mrs.  B.  But  whose  fault  was  it,  that  they  had  not 
oil,  as  well  as  the  wise  ? 


THE  PARABLES.  193 

Henry.  Oh  !  their  own,  mamma. 

Mrs.  B.  Well,  then,  whom  had  they  to  blame  but 
themselves  ?  The  wise  virgins,  however,  gave  them 
the  best  advice ;  "  We  have  none  to  spare ;  if  we 
give  to  you  we  shall  also  be  in  fault :  but  lose  no  more 
time,  go  to  them  that  sell,  and  buy  for  yourselves ; 
perhaps  you  may  yet  be  in  time  to  be  admitted  to  the 
feast."  "  But,"  continues  the  parable,  "  while  they 
went  to  buy,  the  bridegroom  came ;  and  they  that 
were  ready  went  in  with  him  to  the  marriage ;  and 
the  door  was  shut.  Afterward  came  also  the  other 
virgins,  saying,  Lord,  Lord,  open  to  us.  But  he  an- 
swered and  said,  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  I  know  you 
not." 

Mary.  What  did  he  mean  by  saying,  I  know  you 
not? 

Mrs.  B.  It  is  not  an  uncommon  form  of  expression 
in  the  Scriptures,  meaning,  as  it  does  here,  I  disown 
you,  I  refuse  to  acknowledge  you.  In  this  instance 
it  is  as  if  the  bridegroom  had  said,  "  You  claim  to  be 
admitted,  and  pretend  to  be  my  followers  and  attend- 
ants; I  know  you  not  as  such.  I  know  of  none 
such,  but  those  who  were  here  in  attendance  when  I 
returned,  who  were  fulfilling  their  duties,  and  who, 
having  been  ready,  have  long  been  admitted.  The 
door  is  now  shut,  and  I  can  no  longer  allow  you  to 
come  in."  And  now  can  you  apply  this  parable  ? 
17 


194  CONVERSATIONS    ON 

Mary.  Yes,  mamma,  I  think  I  know  what  it  means, 
after  what  we  were  talking  about  just  before  we  be- 
gan to  read  it. 

Mrs.  B.  Well  my  love,  what  does  it  mean  ? 

Mary.  It  means,  mamma,  I  think,  that  we  should 
be  ready  prepared  whenever  our  Lord  calls  for  us. 

Mrs.  B.  And  that  if  we  are  not  so  ready —  ? 

Mary.  That  he  will  not  admit  us  to  heaven. 

Mrs.  B.  Very  well,  my  love,  you  are  quite  right 
as  to  the  object  which  the  parable  has  in  view ;  let 
us  now  consider  it  verse  by  verse.  In  the  first  place, 
I  wish  you  to  observe,  that  all  the  ten  virgins,  the 
wise  and  the  foolish  alike,  lit  their  lamps,  and  went 
forth  to  meet  the  bridegroom.  What  do  you  think 
this  means  ? 

Mary.  I  do  not  know,  mamma;  it  surely  does  not 
mean  that  they  all  meant  and  tried  to  do  their  duty. 

Mrs.  B.  Most  assuredly  not,  my  love :  but  we 
may  take  them  to  represent  two  very  different  sorts 
of  persons ;  all  of  whom,  however,  are  outwardly 
and  in  name  Christians  :  all  of  whom  alike  have 
been  called,  and  ordered  to  attend  at  the  heavenly 
feast :  all  of  whom  profess  their  intention  of  attend- 
ing at  it :  all  of  whom  are  instructed  in  their  duties, 
and  have  "  lit  their  lamps"  by  the  sacred  light  of  the 
word  of  God,  and  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ;  but 
who  afterwards  conduct  themselves  in  very  different 


THE  PARABLES.  195 

ways  :  "  for  five  of  them  were  wise,  and  five  were 
foolish." 

Mary.  Then,  mamma,  if  all  this  is  meant,  what  is 
the  oil,  which  the  wise  ones  took  with  them,  and 
the  foolish  did  not  ? 

Mrs.  B.  Tou  know  that  if  you  light  the  wick  of 
a  lamp,  and  put  no  oil  underneath  it,  the  lamp  will 
burn  a  very  short  time  indeed,  and  then  go  out:  and 
the  lamps  which  were  used  by  the  Jews  required  to 
have  the  oil  poured  upon  them  constantly,  to  keep 
them  burning ;  in  that  respect  they  were  a  fitter  re- 
presentation, than  those  which  we  now  use,  of  the 
spiritual  meaning  of  the  parable.  It  is  not  enough, 
you  see,  to  light  the  lamp,  even  though  it  be  lit  from 
the  word  of  God :  though  religion  be  kindled  in  our 
hearts,  yet  if  we  carelessly  neglect  it,  if  we  omit  to 
feed  it,  it  will  die  away  like  the  lamp  which  had  no 
oil.  The  oil  then,  that  which  must  feed  it,  is  the 
word,  and  the  love,  and  the  spirit  of  God  :  constant 
and  daily  prayer  for  his  grace,  study  of  his  will,  and 
attention  to  his  commands.  Without  this,  the  flame 
will  soon  go  out,  and  when  our  Lord  calls  us,  we 
shall  wish  in  vain  that  v!e  had  not  neglected  this 
preparation.  But  to  make  it  effectually,  unceasing 
watchfulness  is  necessary,  lest  we  fall  into  tempta- 
tion. 

Mary.  But,  mamma,  even  the  wise  virgins  slum- 


196  COiWERSATIONS  ON 

bered  and  slept,  while  they  were  waiting  for  the 
bridegroom ;  that  was  not  very  watchful,  was  it  ? 

Mrs.  B.  And  it  is  very  possible,  that  this  may  be 
intended  to  teach  us,  that  even  the  very  best  among 
us  occasionally  slumber,  and  are  negligent  over  our 
duty;  to  show  us  how  far  we  all  come  short  of  the 
perfect  law  of  God ;  and  at  the  same  time  to  encou- 
rage us  with  the  hope,  that  if  we  not  only  light  our 
lamps,  but  make  a  provision  of  oil  in  our  souls  to 
feed  them,  God,  for  Christ's  sake,  will  not  severely 
visit  our  transgressions. 

Henry.  How  frightened  the  foolish  virgins  must 
have  been,  when  they  found  that  their  lamps  were 
gone  out,  and  that  they  had  no  time  to  get  any 
more  oil! 

Mrs.  B.  And  what  do  you  think  must  be  the  feel- 
ing of  the  sinner,  who,  having  all  his  life  neglected 
that  religion  which  was  taught  him  as  a  child :  hav- 
ing made  no  preparation  to  receive  the  great  Bride- 
groom, when  he  shall  come  to  judge  the  world,  is  at 
length  awoke  from  his  slumber  by  the  awful  cry, 
"He  Cometh!"  When  he  finds  himself  visited  by 
disease,  laid  upon  a  bed  from  which  he  shall  never 
rise;  but  from  which,  according  to  all  probability, 
in  a  very  few  hours  he  shall  be  summoned  to  appear 
before  his  Judge,  to  account  for  his  neglect  of  that 
precious  light,  which  was  given  to  hira  to  keep 
burning  ? 


THE    PARABLES.  197 

Mary.  How  dreadful,  mamma!  but  I  am  sure  I 
have  heard  of  persons  who  had  been  very  wicked, 
and  who  repented  and  were  very  good  when  they 
found  that  they  were  dying.  Do  you  mean  that  they 
would  be  too  late  ? 

Mrs.  B.  God  alone,  my  love,  who  knows  all 
hearts,  can  know  what  are  the  real  feelings  of  such 
persons,  and  he  alone  can  judge  how  far  such  late 
repentance  can  be  admitted  before  him  "  who  is  set 
on  the  throne^  who  judgeth  right  j"*  but  at  least  the 
risk  of  such  delay  is  awful.  The  Lord  may  come 
without  even  such  short  warning;  the  sinner  may 
be  cut  off  in  a  moment,  before  he  has  even  time  to 
reflect  upon  his  conduct.  God  forbid,  my  dear  child- 
ren, but  that  you  and  I,  whenever  we  are  called, 
may  be  ready  to  appear  with  a  sure  trust  in  the  merits 
of  our  Saviour  Christ,  and  with  humble  conscious- 
ness that  we  endeavoured  to  keep  his  light  burning 
in  our  hearts.  But  he  who  feels  that  he  has  too  long 
neglected  the  care  of  his  soul,  and  has  suffered  the 
fire  of  his  religion  to  grow  cold  and  dim,  he  should 
hasten,  before  it  be  too  late,  to  redeem  the  time  :  and 
knowing  that  none  of  his  fellow-creatures  have 
enough  for  them  and  him,  that  none  of  them  can  aid 
him,  he  should  "  go  to  them  that  sell,  and  buy  for 
himself." 

*  Psalm  ix.  4. 
17* 


198  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

Mary.  To  those  that  sell,  mamma  !  How  do  you 
mean  ?  If  the  oil  means  what  you  said  it  did,  there 
is  no  one  that  can  sell  it. 

Mrs.  B.  There  is  indeed  but  one  from  whom  it 
can  be  obtained — and  that  one,  by  his  holy  prophet, 
by  the  most  splendid  of  all  his  prophets,  whose 
writings  you  will  read  and  admire  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures ;  by  the  mouth  of  Jsaiah,  that  one  has  called  to 
all  his  people,  saying,  "  Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth, 
come  ye  to  the  waters ;  and  he  that  hath  no  money; 
come  ye,  buy  and  eat:  yea,  come,  buy  wine  and 
milk,  without  money,  and  without  price."*  The 
only  price  that  God  demands,  is  an  humble  and  a  con- 
trite heart :  when  such  a  one  is  offered  to  him,  he 
will  give  his  Holy  Spirit,  he  will  light  again  the  dying 
lamp,  and  make  it  burn  brightly  to  the  last.  But  if 
we  neglect  to  apply  to  him,  if  we  put  off  from  day  to 
day,  he  may  at  length  come  as  he  says  he  will,  "as 
a  thief  in  the  night,""f"  we  know  not  when,  nor  how 
spon ;  and  if  our  sorrow  and  alarm  be  too  late,  we 
have  only  to  look  to  the  parable  before  us,  to  see 
what  will  be  our  fate.  While  we  are  in  this  world, 
while  we  are  still  in  the  land  of  mercy ;  we  are  told 
to  "  ask,  and  we  shall  have  •,  to  knock,  and  it  shall 
be  opened  unto  us  :"J  but  when  the  bridegroom  has 

*  Isa.  Iv.  1.  f  1  Thess.  v.  2.  +  Matt.  vii.  7. 


THE   PARABLES.  199 

shut  to  the  door,  then  this  gracious  permission  ceases  : 
then  to  them  that  knock,  saying,  "Lord,  Lord,  open 
to  us,"  the  fearful  answer  shall  be,  "  I  know  ye  not." 
"  When  once,"  says  Jesus  in  another  Gospel,  "  the 
master  of  the  house  is  risen  up,  and  hath  shut  to  the 
door,  and  ye  begin  to  stand  without,  and  to  knock 
at  the  door,  saying,  Lord,  Lord,  open  unto  us ;  he 
shall  answer  and  say  unto  you,  1  know  ye  not 
whence  ye  are :  depart  from  me,  all  ye  workers  of 
iniquity."* 

Mary.  Blamma,  I  do  not  quite  know  what  is  meant 
by  the  time  of  the  bridegroom  coming.  Does  it  mean 
the  day  of  judgment,  or  does  it  mean  the  day  of  our 
death  ? 

Mrs.  B.  They  are  to  us,  my  dear  girl,  one  and 
the  same  thing :  "  for  whatever  may  be  the  season 
appointed  in  the  secret  counsels  of  God  for  that  great 
and  terrible  day,  when  the  heavens  and  the  earth 
shall  flee  from  the  face  of  him  who  shall  be  seated 
on  the  throne,  and  their  place  shall  no  more  be 
found ;  the  end  of  the  world,  with  respect  to  each 
individual,  takes  place  at  the  conclusion  of  his  own 
life.  In  the  grave  there  will  be  no  repentance,  no 
virtues  can  be  acquired,  no  evil  habits  thrown  off. 
With  that  character  of  virtue  or  of  vice  with  which  a 

*  Luke  xiii.  25. 


200  CONVERSATIONS  ON 

man  leaves  the  world,  with  that  he  must  appear  be- 
fore the  judgment  seat  of  Christ.  In  that  moment, 
therefore,  in  which  his  present  life  ends,  every  man's 
future  condition  becomes  irreversibly  determined.  In 
this  sense,  to  every  one  of  us  on  earth  "  the  coming 
of  the  Lord  draweth'nigh,  the  judge  standeth  before 
the  door :  let  us  watch,  therefore,  and  pray ;  watch 
over  ourselves,  and  pray  for  the  succours  of  God's 
grace,  that  we  may  be  able  to  stand  before  the  Son 
of  man.  Nor  shall  vigilance  and  prayer  be  ineffec- 
tual. On  ^the  incorrigible  and  perverse,  on  those 
who  mock  at  God's  threatenings,  and  reject  his  pro- 
mises, on  these  only  the  severity  of  his  wrath  will 
fall.  But  for  those  who  lay  his  warnings  seriously 
to  heart,  who  dread  the  pollutions  of  the  world,  and 
flee  from  sin  as  from  a  serpent :  who  fear  God's  dis- 
pleasure more  than  death,  and  seek  his  favour  more 
than  life,  though  much  of  frailty  will  to  the  last  ad- 
here to  them,  yet  these  are  the  objects  of  the  Father's 
mercy,  of  the  Redeemer's  love.  For  these  he  died, 
for  these  he  pleads,  these  he  supports  and  strengthens 
with  his  spirit,  these  he  shall  lead  with  him  triumph- 
ant to  the  mansions  of  glory,  where  sin  and  death"* 
shall  be  no  more;  and  when  "God  shall  be  all 
in  alL"t 

*  Bishop  Horsley.     Notes  to  Mant's  Bible.     Matt.  xxiv.  42. 
t  1  Cor.  XV.  28. 


THE  PARABLES.  201 

Mary.  Then,  mamma,  what  a  terrible  thing  it  must 
be  to  die  suddenly !  And  yet  one  hears  of  it  every 
day. 

Mrs.  B.  Sudden  death,  my  love,  is  an  awful  idea 
to  any  one,  even  to  the  best  among  us :  it  is  fearful 
to  be  called  at  once  into  the  presence  of  God,  our 
Maker  and  Judge ;  and  fearful,  indeed,  for  those  who 
have  lived,  and  are  living,  in  a  regular  course  of 
violating  his  laws,  and  neglecting  his  commandments ! 
And,  as  we  know  not  whether  it  may  not  be  our  fate 
to  be  thus  called,  how  anxiously  should  we  follow 
the  command  with  which  our  Saviour  Christ  con- 
cludes this  very  parable  which  we  have  now  been 
reading ;  "  Watch,  therefore;  for  ye  know  neither  the 
day  nor  the  hour  when  the  Son  of  man  cometh: 
and  in  another  place,  he  adds,  "  Watch  and  pray,  lest 
ye  enter  into  temptation."*  Here  is  our  true  safety ; 
hence  we  may  obtain  the  daily  supply  of  heavenly 
oil  to  keep  our  lamps  burning,  till  we  are  called  to 
our  everlasting  inheritance  with  the  saints  in  light. 

Mary.  Mamma,  I  hope  that  we  shall  always  try 
to  be  ready  whenever  God  is  pleased  to  call  us :  but 
I  do  hope  we  may  all  live  a  long  time  yet. 

Mrs.  B.  And  yet,  dear  child,  how  short,  in  com- 
parison with  eternal  duration,  is  the  longest  life  of 

*  Matt.  xxvi.  41. 


S02  THE  PARABLES. 

man!  How  little  does  it  signify  whether  we  live 
here  twenty,  or  fifty,  or  a  hundred  years,  if  at  the 
end  of  our  life  we  are  prepared  for  that  better  life 
which  is  to  come !  If  we  feel  assured,  through  the 
mercy  of  God,  that  though  by  our  death,  we  lose  for 
a  while  those  whom  we  most  love  on  earth,  we  shall 
yet  meet  them  again  in  an  eternity  of  happiness  in- 
conceivable in  heaven !  May  that  gracious  and  mer- 
ciful God  so  direct  and  sanctify  here  all  that  we  do, 
and  say,  and  think ;  may  he  so  bless  our  conversa- 
tions here,  and  these  our  endeavours  to  learn  and  to 
explain  his  Holy  Word ;  that  be  our  life  longer  or 
shorter,  it  may  be  passed  in  constant  watchfulness 
over  our  own  hearts,  and  constant  submission  to  his 
most  holy  will!  So,  when  he  shall  call  upon  each 
of  us,  when  we  shall  hear  the  awful  warning,  "  Be- 
hold, I  come  quickly,"  he  may  give  us  boldness  to 
answer,  with  the  holy  Apostle  St.  John,  "  Amen ! 
Even  so,  come.  Lord  Jesus  !"* 

*  Rev.  xxii.  20. 


THE  END. 


DATE  DUE 

1 

CAYUORO 

